Democratic opposition and intra-party tensions in the crypto market structure bill in the ABD Senate

Recently, there has been intense political contention around the Senate Agriculture Committee’s crypto market structure bill. Supported by Republicans, this draft legislation has been postponed to next week due to significant amendment requests from Democratic Senators. These disagreements over the bill highlight how party dynamics are highly influential in shaping laws regulating the crypto sector.

Controversial Draft of the Senate Agriculture Committee

This crypto market structure bill, introduced without Democratic approval on Wednesday, is currently facing its biggest challenge within the Senate. Senators are demanding that several critical issues be addressed before the bill moves forward. In particular, they want to prohibit government officials who profit from the crypto sector and complete the management board of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to be addressed.

The committee is preparing to hold a session next week to bring the bill to the general Senate agenda, but there is a possibility of postponement due to weather conditions expected to affect the region. However, proposals from opposition parties have now been officially recorded.

Democratic and Republican Clashes

Democratic Senators’ amendment requests are quite comprehensive and diverse. Senator Richard Durbin calls for no government bailout packages for digital asset issuers, while senior member of the Democratic group in the Senate, Senator Amy Klobuchar, seeks stronger provisions than the current draft regarding the majority of CFTC commissioners. Additionally, Senator Michael Bennet has proposed adding anti-corruption measures to prevent government officials involved in crypto from holding public office.

The Republican side has also been active, submitting their own amendment proposals. Senator Tommy Tuberville advocates for legality measures against crypto platforms linked to rival countries. Such disagreements have become more prominent following the failure of a recent regulatory effort.

Challenges in the Legislative Process

The Digital Asset Market Transparency Act is currently at a stage where approval is needed from both the Senate Agriculture Committee and the Senate Banking Committee. Without positive results from both committees, the bill cannot be presented for a full Senate vote. This dual-committee approval process has become complex due to intense debates during previous attempts.

Pudgy Penguins: A Powerhouse in the NFT Ecosystem

Amid these political debates, the Pudgy Penguins NFT project has emerged as one of the most active NFT brands of this period. The project has transitioned from the speculative “digital luxury goods” category to a versatile consumer IP platform. Its strategy is primarily to attract users through mainstream channels (toys, retail partnerships, viral media) and then involve them in Web3 through games, NFTs, and the PENGU token.

The ecosystem currently includes physical and digital products (over $13 million in retail sales and more than 1 million units sold), games and experiences (Pudgy Party achieved over 500,000 downloads in two weeks), and a widely distributed token (airdropped to over 6 million wallets). While the market currently prices Pudgy at a premium compared to traditional IP benchmarks, long-term success depends on retail expansion, game adoption, and realization of deeper token benefits.

SEC’s New Tokenized Securities Guidance

A significant development in the regulatory scene is a new guidance issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC clarified that tokenized securities, regardless of whether they are recorded on the blockchain, are subject to existing securities and derivatives rules.

The agency makes a clear distinction between issuer-backed tokenized securities that can represent actual equity ownership and third-party products that typically only provide synthetic exposure or custody rights. While supporting fully regulated issuer-approved tokenization efforts, the SEC aims to limit the proliferation of synthetic equity products targeted at retail investors. This guidance marks an important step toward clarifying the legal framework for the crypto sector.