At a U.S. Senate hearing, the digital asset industry presented cryptocurrencies as a way to ease Americans’ cost-of-living burden, but lawmakers’ reactions were largely cool.

Cointelegraph, a blockchain media outlet, reported on Monday that Senator John Kennedy drew a line at testimony by Cody Carbon (코디 카본), chief executive of the Digital Chamber, during a Senate Banking Committee hearing, saying it was closer to promoting cryptocurrencies.

The hearing was held under the theme of "The Affordability Agenda." Carbon argued that the digital asset industry can enable faster and cheaper transactions, put competitive pressure on existing payment systems and lower barriers to holding and transferring assets, helping address U.S. cost-of-living problems. Many lawmakers who attended did not question Carbon directly, and there were few questions about digital assets.

Questions came mainly from Senator Tim Banks of Indiana and Kennedy. Banks asked about comparing overseas remittance costs with the costs of dollar-pegged stablecoins. Kennedy said, "I like cryptocurrencies, but that is not our economy’s problem."

The industry’s core message at the hearing was the need for Senate action on the market-structure "CLARITY Act." The Senate Banking Committee advanced the bill in May, and there is an expectation that a Senate floor vote could take place within weeks. Several lawmakers are calling for additional ethics provisions, which could complicate the bill’s path to passage.

The disputes around the bill are not limited to ethics issues. Last week, gambling industry groups asked the Senate to clarify the bill’s language. They said it should not open a path for the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission to oversee sports betting through prediction markets. The CFTC has claimed exclusive jurisdiction over platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket under Chairman Michael Sellik (마이클 셀릭).

Amid the situation, attention inside and outside the Senate is shifting to the timing of the bill’s passage. Some lawmakers think the Senate could pass the CLARITY Act before the August recess, but as of Monday the Senate has not yet set a floor vote schedule.

The hearing showed that the digital asset industry is trying to persuade Congress by emphasizing the practicality of cryptocurrencies, but has not secured priority within an agenda focused on broader pressures on the U.S. economy. At the same time, the Senate faces the task of advancing a broad market-structure bill while also settling detailed issues such as ethics standards and regulatory jurisdiction.