Senate Agriculture Committee reschedules its own crypto bill hearing to Jan. 27

The Senate Agriculture Committee plans to publish its crypto market structure bill on Jan. 21 and hold a key hearing on the text on Jan. 27.

The committee announced Tuesday that its hearing — originally scheduled for Jan. 15 but postponed on Monday — would kick off at 3:00 p.m. The markup hearing is a crucial step toward advancing legislation. Lawmakers will be able to debate amendments, vote whether or not to add them to the base text and then vote on whether or not to advance the overall bill to the full Senate.

The Senate Banking Committee is holding its own markup this Thursday, for its version of the bill. A draft of the Banking Committee version was released near midnight Monday, though lawmakers are expected to offer amendments prior to the hearing.

In a statement, Senator John Boozman, the committee chairman, said the revised "schedule ensures transparency and allows for thorough review as the committee moves forward with legislation to provide clarity and certainty for crypto markets."

"I’m grateful to Senator [Cory] Booker, who continues to be a great partner, as well as to our staff for their hard work and dedication to create new rules to protect consumers while also supporting American innovation," he said, referring to the lawmaker leading Democrats on negotiating on that committee.

The Agriculture Committee has not released draft text since its initial discussion draft. Outstanding issues include ethics provisions, referring to President Donald Trump and his family's ties to various crypto businesses, and quorum rules requiring regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission to be helmed by bipartisan commissioners. At present both agencies only have Republican commissioners.

The Banking committee text similarly does not include language around ethics or quorums, and the present version may not have bipartisan support as a result, two individuals tracking the bill told CoinDesk.

Read more: How a battle with bankers tarnished crypto's market structure bill near the finish line