Senate Leaders and White House Crypto Czar Edge Toward Digital-Asset Deal

Boozman and Booker are slated to speak with Sacks in the coming days, a step viewed as the Agriculture Committee’s contribution to the broader legislative push, according to a report by Politico. While the full agreement remains under wraps, this meeting signals that Senate staff are closing in on a bipartisan product even as internal divisions on how to regulate decentralized finance continue to loom.

The legislation in question has been framed as the "market-structure" package for digital assets, a far-reaching initiative that would establish a set of comprehensive rules and oversight for the crypto industry. This second wave of legislation, following the administration's earlier work on stablecoins with the GENIUS Act, would settle the jurisdictional dividing line between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, determine how DeFi should be treated, and set guardrails on custody, trading incentives, and transparency requirements.

Market participants are framing this effort as one of the most impactful legislative efforts of this Congress, setting the course for how innovation and compliance will coexist within the United States. The presence of Sacks, who represents the White House, underscores how the administration is looking to align regulatory direction across agencies and the different branches.

Although the Senate Banking Committee has traditionally taken centre stage when it comes to discussions around crypto, the Agriculture Committee is an equally important player because the CFTC falls under its remit. Boozman, chairman of the committee, has made clear time and again that the group is close to finalising its text and expects to release it "very, very soon". For that reason, the impending hearing with Sacks and Booker may serve as a crucial bridge between the Agriculture Committee's text and the broader framework coming together in Banking. If an agreement is reached, it would represent the most significant bipartisan momentum on digital-asset policy in several years.

Although there has been progress, considerable hurdles remain. Democrats continue to insist on deeper involvement in the drafting process, especially regarding the treatment of decentralized finance and consumer-protection mechanisms. They have voiced concern that Republican negotiators are trying to accelerate the timeline without sufficient vetting.

For their part, Republican members express frustration over repeated delays and hope to clear the bill before year-end or, at the latest, early 2026. Some staffers have indicated an ambition to mark up the text before Thanksgiving, even as a recent government shutdown complicated agency feedback and slowed inter-committee coordination. Industry representatives describe the current state of talks as roughly “ninety per cent complete,” with only definitional and jurisdictional details left to reconcile before a full draft can be released.

Among the unresolved questions are how precisely to allocate rule-making authority between the SEC and the CFTC, how trading platforms and custodians should be registered and supervised, and what disclosure or capital requirements might apply to entities offering yield-bearing or staking products. Lawmakers are also wrestling with how to handle non-custodial wallets, open-source developers, and the extent of liability in decentralised environments.

Another area of debate involves how exchanges distribute trading rewards or incentives, especially when denominated in stablecoins or native tokens, and how such structures fit under existing consumer-protection laws. Finally, the committees are considering how to clarify the relationship between banks, fintechs, and crypto firms-an area that has become increasingly relevant as stablecoin use grows within payment systems. Each of these components will influence not only how crypto companies operate domestically but also how competitive the U.S. market remains relative to jurisdictions like the EU under MiCA or Singapore's evolving PSA framework.

David Sacks' participation adds a strategic dimension to these talks. As President Donald Trump's senior adviser on crypto and artificial-intelligence policy, Sacks serves as a bridge between the executive branch and the technology sector. Involvement by him will indicate that this is not just a process of negotiations in Congress but reflects the broader priorities of the White House with regards to the digital economy.

His background as a venture capitalist and tech entrepreneur lends him credibility among industry stakeholders, and his role is seen to be critical in aligning innovation incentives with regulatory accountability. The meeting suggests that the administration intends to treat digital-asset policy not as a marginal issue but as a component of national economic competitiveness.

If Boozman, Booker and Sacks reach a consensus outline, the Agriculture Committee is expected to circulate a discussion draft that could be folded into a unified Senate proposal. Any formal markup would then require coordination with the Banking Committee before floor consideration. But the legislative calendar remains tight, with limited sessions remaining before the end of the year and the 2026 budget cycle set to dominate early spring. Should the process slip into next year, proponents fear election-year politics could slow the measure further. Still, the fact that senators from both parties are actively engaging with the White House offers a rare glimpse of sustained bipartisan energy in a deeply divided Congress.

It also holds global importance for the development of the digital-asset ecosystem. A US market-structure bill would set a tone for international regulatory discourse and could establish baseline standards for other financial centers. The US is still home to many of the largest exchanges, custodians, and blockchain-infrastructure providers, so new federal rules will have a ripple effect throughout the global industry. More detail around token classification, custody obligations, and DeFi compliance might unlock institutional capital that has so far been reticent due to regulatory uncertainty. Overly rigid provisions, on the other hand, risk driving liquidity and innovation offshore.

The meeting between Boozman, Booker, and Sacks, therefore, represents more than a procedural update; it constitutes the most concrete sign yet that Washington may be ready to define a comprehensive digital-asset regime. Whether this effort yields legislation before the year closes remains to be seen, but for the first time in years, the political stars appear aligned. Much will depend on whether the bipartisan spirit can survive the next round of drafting and how lawmakers will choose to balance innovation with oversight.