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The U.S. Senate Banking Committee will hold a markup, a formal meeting, on May 14 local time on sweeping federal cryptocurrency regulation legislation. The Block reported on May 8 local time that the step is aimed at advancing, at the committee stage, legislation that would comprehensively regulate the crypto industry at the federal level for the first time.

The markup is the second attempt. The Senate Banking Committee sought to pursue the same step in January, but canceled the schedule after Coinbase withdrew its support, citing issues including the handling of stablecoin rewards.

The issue was reported to have been partly resolved after 2 key senators released revisions last week. Banking industry groups are pushing back, saying the revisions are still insufficient.

For the bill to pass in the end, the Senate Banking Committee version must first clear the committee. It must then go through a process to reconcile its contents with a bill the Senate Agriculture Committee handled early this year.

The Senate Agriculture Committee bill was handled at the time without Democratic support. Democrats pointed to U.S. President Donald Trump’s interests related to cryptocurrency as a key obstacle. Trump and Melania Trump launched memecoins ahead of the inauguration, and the Trump family also has ties to the DeFi and stablecoin project World Liberty Financial.

A reconciled bill would need 60 votes to pass the full Senate. It would then move to the House of Representatives for the next steps. The House passed its own bill last year with bipartisan support. The final step is Trump’s signature.

The legislative timeline is tight, however. The Block reported that the number of dates available for votes is shrinking and midterm elections are approaching.

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#U.S. Senate Banking Committee #Coinbase #The Block #Donald Trump #World Liberty Financial
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