Wall Street and crypto industry leaders advance in dialogue on digital asset regulation

Source: PortaldoBitcoin Original Title: Wall Street and crypto industry leaders advance in dialogue on digital asset regulation Original Link: A group of rival stakeholders met privately on Thursday to try to resolve disagreements over the cryptocurrency market structure bill in the US, as legislation moves toward a Senate vote that could be decisive and is scheduled for next week.

The meeting, which had not been previously disclosed, included representatives from SIFMA, a major Wall Street trade group protesting key points of the bill, and some industry representatives from the crypto sector, according to sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations.

One source said the meeting showed signs of “progress” regarding the delicate topic of decentralized finance (DeFi), a term used for native applications in the crypto universe that enable asset trading without intermediaries.

According to the source, SIFMA has recently expressed objections to the regulatory exceptions in the bill for certain decentralized finance services and their developers. Another source described today’s discussions as “constructive” and “productive” on the DeFi issue.

A source also stated that SIFMA, along with the banking lobby, has been pushing to retroactively ban dollar-pegged stablecoins that generate yields, which had been tacitly permitted by the GENIUS Act — another crypto-related law signed by the president last summer.

When asked for comment, a SIFMA representative denied that the group has “set a position on yield-generating stablecoins,” but did not comment on the alleged concerns related to DeFi in the bill.

At Thursday’s meeting, crypto sector public policy leaders — including a representative from a venture capital giant and another from the DeFi Education Fund — tried to persuade SIFMA to moderate its demands, which have already been partially incorporated by Democratic senators favorable to the crypto industry this week.

Both sides have little time to reach an agreement. Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-SC) announced earlier this week that he intends to conduct a crucial analysis of the crypto bill next Thursday, despite industry leaders’ concerns that this accelerated schedule could jeopardize months of bipartisan negotiations.

Most participants agree that the bill needs bipartisan support in next week’s committee review to have any chance of passing in the Senate floor.

On Thursday, more than 50 members of the crypto industry trade group The Digital Chamber met with senators and White House officials at Capitol Hill to push for a favorable draft language before the final review, which is expected to be released early next week.

A representative of the organization said that stablecoin yields and protections for DeFi software developers — who have been criminally prosecuted by Democratic and Republican administrations over the past years based on existing money transmission laws — were two of the main topics discussed in today’s meetings.

Despite this, the ongoing negotiations — with six days left to finalize a complex bill that could reshape the US economy — have left some participants exasperated.

“I just can’t believe that we finally have Democrats and Republicans working proactively on something, and we could ruin it all over an arbitrary schedule,” said a crypto industry member.