House Democrats Draft Crypto Market Structure Bill Expanding SEC Role

House Democrats are discussing a plan to expand Representative Maxine Waters' Crypto Investor and Consumer Bill of Rights into a full crypto market structure bill in the next Congress, according to a report by Eleanor Terrett, host of the Crypto America podcast. Terrett cited three industry sources briefed by Democratic staffers. No bill has been introduced and no text exists.

The central design choice allocates supervisory power. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would take a larger role over crypto markets, while the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which oversees derivatives markets, would cede ground. No details have surfaced on which tokens or platforms would fall on which side of the regulatory line, because there is no draft to read.

Why the CLARITY Act's failure set the stage

The plan follows the stalled CLARITY Act, the market structure bill that passed the House but died in the Senate. In a September 17 statement, Ranking Member Waters said the bill failed to advance in a bipartisan procedural Senate vote. She attributed the failure to a single gap, saying nothing explained it better "than the fact that it did nothing to rein in Trump's overt, pernicious, and dangerous corruption."

The CLARITY Act's House path ran through the Rules Committee, which reported the rule for H.R. 3633 by a vote of 8-4 on July 14, 2025.

How Trump conflicts and the Binance hack shape Waters' agenda

Waters has pressed two themes — presidential conflicts and consumer protection — across 2025. On May 21, 2025, she introduced H.R. 3573, the Stop TRUMP in Crypto Act. The bill's scope extends to future presidents, vice presidents, members of Congress and their families.

Committee Democrats cite Trump's 2025 financial disclosures, which they say show $1.4 billion in earnings that year. The statement does not specify how much of that figure came from crypto.

On October 30, Waters responded to what she called "the reported $6.3 billion hack of Binance." She described the incident as "a wake-up call to anyone who thinks the cryptocurrency industry can operate without strong accountability," and said she and Committee Democrats "will continue to push for strong consumer protections." Her statement treats the $6.3 billion figure as reported, not confirmed.

What would make the bill real?

Whether ethics limits or specific consumer rules will appear in the new legislation remains unconfirmed. No Democratic office has described the plan on the record. The direction of travel, not a finished product, is all that exists so far.

The first concrete step is bill text. A draft would show how far the SEC's supervisory role actually grows and how much of Waters' consumer and ethics agenda comes along with it. Until staffers circulate language next Congress, exchanges and token issuers cannot know which rulebook — SEC disclosure rules or CFTC derivatives oversight — would govern their operations.