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House Democrats are reportedly set to progress crypto legislation after sweeping the U.S. midterms.
There are plans to expand the Crypto Investor Consumer Bill of Rights—a Clarity Act amendment led by Dem. Maxine Waters—into a broader market structure bill, journalist Eleanor Terrett tweeted. The proposal would include giving the SEC more power to supervise the crypto markets and limiting the role of the CFTC, sources told Terrett.
On the surface, the midterm election results could be seen as a major hit to crypto policy in the U.S., with President Trump's Republican administration widely regarded as the pro-crypto party, while the Democrats were deemed more hostile. However, experts, told Decrypt, the tide might be turning and crypto policy evolving into a more bipartisan issue.
Advocacy organization Stand With Crypto endorsed 45 candidates in the midterms, per its election tracker, with 27 pro-crypto candidate wins, 12 losses, and six races still live at the time of writing. Nearly half of the endorsed candidates were Democrats.
"We’re proud to see a majority of our endorsed candidates win their elections," Mason Lynaugh, executive director of Stand With Crypto, said in a statement shared with Decrypt. "To the candidates who won’t return to Washington, thank you for going to bat for crypto-owning Americans when it counted."
James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, described Republican Bryan Steil as a "meaningful loss" for crypto. The Wisconsin Congressman was the chair of the House digital assets subcommittee and closely involved in efforts to advance the Clarity Act—which were stymied when it stalled in the Senate earlier this year.
That said, Butterfill also highlighted several winners—Democrats Chris Pappas in New Hampshire and James Talarico in Texas, as well as Wyoming Republican Harriet Hageman—who have supported crypto policy. He stressed, however, that the challenge is now "converting" that support into passing legislation. Some believe that could slow an already difficult path for the Clarity Act.
"I wouldn’t say it’s game over for Clarity, but passing it has become tougher," Carlos Guzman, vice president of research at crypto trading firm GSR, told Decrypt. "Some Democrats support clearer crypto rules, but I wouldn’t expect it to be high on their agenda. Any agreement will likely require stronger provisions on things like consumer protection and conflicts of interest."
The Clarity Act looks to establish rules for crypto markets and has been batted back and forth since 2025. Democrats have pushed back on the bill, citing Trump's crypto conflicts of interest, with Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) pushing for the bill to ban officials and their families from profiting from the sector.
"For other crypto policies, the election doesn’t automatically replace the leadership of the SEC or CFTC or stop their rulemaking," Guzman said. "Congressional oversight does change, however, so we might see more scrutiny of regulatory decisions, with Democrats also able to influence agency funding and future appointments."
Butterfill added that he believes crypto is becoming less dependent on the Clarity Act, as the SEC and CFTC push for regulatory clarity without the need for Congress. He also said that AI regulation may take eyes away from crypto, slowing crypto policy in the process.
Following the midterms, Bitcoin has exhibited volatility, and is currently trading at around $76,820, down 4.1% on the day, per Decrypt data.
"The result alone would not make me change my medium-term Bitcoin outlook," Butterfill told Decrypt. "Slower reform could delay some institutional activity, but we would expect the more direct impact to fall on US crypto businesses reliant on new regulatory permissions. We would revisit the outlook if political uncertainty materially weakened investment flows or tightened financial conditions."
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