French Hill says agency crypto rules fall short, and pins his hopes on 22 Senate days after the midterms

The chair of the House's finance panel says regulators cannot finish the job on crypto. Rep. French Hill, the Arkansas Republican who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, told Fox Business on Wednesday, October 7, that the rules now coming from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission fall short of legislation, Decrypt and Cointelegraph reported.

Hill credited SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and CFTC Chairman Michael Selig for their work to define digital assets, but said only Congress can make it last. "We need that permanent law change to make sure America is number one in digital assets and blockchain technology," he said.

The concern is durability. Agency exemptions and guidance can be challenged in court or reversed by a later administration, Decrypt noted.

Hill's vehicle is the Clarity Act, the market structure bill he authored. The House passed it in July 2025 by 294 to 134. On September 15 a Senate motion to begin debate got 49 votes to 50 against, short of the 60 it needed. Since then both agencies have pressed ahead with their own proposals.

Hill said he still hopes the bill can pass in the lame-duck session after November's midterm elections. He noted the Senate will have only 22 days in session before the next Congress is seated. Open issues include ethics provisions and stablecoin rewards, crypto.news reported.