Scott Sees Slim Margin for Senate Crypto Bill as Warren Resists

Senate Banking Committee chair Tim Scott said he intends to push a broad crypto market-structure bill to a floor vote before the end of September and expects the outcome to hinge on just a handful of senators. Speaking at the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium on Tuesday, the South Carolina Republican estimated that between 12 and 18 Democrats could join all 53 Republicans in backing the measure—barely clearing the seven-vote margin needed for passage. Scott blamed what he called “forceful” opposition from Sen. Elizabeth Warren for discouraging additional Democratic support. Warren, the committee’s ranking Democrat, warned last week that the proposal would let traditional securities sidestep decades-old Securities and Exchange Commission oversight and “fundamentally upend” U.S. financial regulation. The looming showdown contrasts with June’s bipartisan vote on the GENIUS Act, a narrower stablecoin law that drew 18 Democratic votes and was signed by President Donald Trump last month. The House has already approved its own market-structure legislation, the CLARITY Act, meaning any Senate bill would have to be reconciled in conference. Scott also praised what he said was the crypto industry’s political influence, noting Ohio Republican Bernie Moreno’s election after the defeat of former Senate Banking chair Sherrod Brown. He argued that the sector’s growing clout underscores the urgency of creating clear federal rules before the new Congress convenes in January.