On January 29, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry advanced its version of legislation regulating digital assets titled the “Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act.” The Senate agriculture and Senate banking committees are each responsible for advancing a version of the legislation, although the banking committee — having recently postponed a planned mark-up session — has yet to do so. The bill builds on the CLARITY Act, passed by the House in July 2025, as well as the committee’s November bipartisan discussion draft (covered by InfoBytes here). Unlike the November draft, this version of the bill advanced without support from committee Democrats.
While the bill maintains the core approach of granting the CFTC exclusive jurisdiction over spot digital commodity markets and establishing registration and oversight for exchanges, brokers and dealers, it introduces several changes. Namely, the bill adds a new section on expedited registration and provisional status, requiring the CFTC to create a fast-track process for intermediaries to register and operate under provisional rules until final regulations are issued. The legislation also revises various definitions and omits several bracketed sections from the November draft that had sought stakeholder input on issues like decentralized finance and anti-money laundering. The bill further details CFTC rulemaking timelines, fee authority, and customer protection requirements, including new disclosure obligations for entities.
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