Speaking on CoinDesk Live at the Ondo Summit in New York, former House Financial Services Chairman Patrick McHenry and White House adviser Patrick Witt said a comprehensive cryptocurrency market structure bill could be passed within months.
Latest developments: Optimism is rising across Washington and industry.
- McHenry and Witt discuss the growing momentum for landmark cryptocurrency legislation despite intensifying debates over benefits, DeFi and ethics.
- McHenry predicted the finalized market structure bill could reach the president’s desk by Memorial Day.
- Witt said President Trump personally made the legislation a priority following the passage of the Genius Act.
Pushed within the White House: The scope of negotiations is narrowing.
- Witt said a recent White House-hosted meeting on stablecoin yields surfaced “new areas of agreement” while clearly defining remaining red lines.
- He said the government’s goal was to move from high-level principles to drafting actual legislative language.
- Witt emphasized that his role is to broker a deal that can pass muster in the Senate and House of Representatives.
The crux: Stablecoin yields are the biggest unanswered question.
- Witt said there is broad consensus on prohibiting deceptive practices, including marketing stablecoins as FDIC-insured deposits.
- At issue is whether centralized exchanges should be allowed to pay passive income on idle stablecoin balances.
- Banks, especially community lenders, see yields as a threat to deposit funds, while cryptocurrency companies see yields as driving platform engagement.
Why DeFi matters: McHenry said it’s fundamental.
- Market structure legislation “cannot function without DeFi,” McHenry said.
- He believes that decentralization is the source of cryptocurrency efficiency, transparency and lower costs compared to traditional finance.
- McHenry said tokenized lending products are already cheaper than traditional securities lending, indicating strong market demand.
politics: Ethical issues loom, but may not impede access.
- McHenry said ethics rules should apply to all officials in perpetuity, not against any single government or family.
- Witt said some Democratic proposals would impose sweeping restrictions on spouses of officials and were “grossly overreaching.”
- Both said a smaller moral compromise could still win bipartisan support, although Republicans could push the bill through party-line votes if needed.
What happens next: Compressed legislative timetable.
- Witt said the drafting team is now “dealing with the document” and working through specific statutory language.
- He said the White House is pushing banks and cryptocurrency companies to negotiate in good faith.
- McHenry said the Senate could take action before Easter, providing a quick sprint toward final passage.
Watch the CoinDesk livestream of the Ondo Summit here.
