Hope for substantive progress on U.S. crypto legislation within the year is slim, and the industry is shifting its focus to the new Congress

Odaily report: Multiple figures in the U.S. crypto industry expect that it will be difficult to advance crypto legislation substantively during the final weeks of the current congressional session (i.e., the "lame-duck" period between the end of the elections and the start of the next Congress on January 3). Cody Carbone, CEO of the Digital Chamber, said there is little hope of further progress on the CLARITY Act (Digital Asset Market Clarity Act), and that lawmakers appear to be gradually turning their attention to other matters. With Democrats set to hold more dominant power in the new Congress after the midterm elections, Republicans have limited time left, and Democrats also lack the incentive to make major compromises at this point.

A small number of issues may still attract attention, including crypto tax rules, granting the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) more authority to oversee crypto spot markets, and accelerating permitting for data center construction. Among them, a bipartisan bill related to data center permitting has passed an initial procedural step in the Senate, but some Bitcoin mining companies are divided over whether it may require them to bear grid expansion costs and higher energy fees. Kristin Smith, head of the Blockchain Association, said that with little time remaining in this Congress and a heavy to-do list, the most important regulatory rules for the U.S. crypto industry are still being formulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the CFTC. (CoinDesk)