House Democrats are drafting an SEC-led crypto market-structure bill to replace the CLARITY Act, industry sources tell Crypto In America

House Democrats are reportedly drafting a new crypto market-structure bill that would put the SEC, not the CFTC, in charge, CryptoSlate and Disruption Banking reported on Thursday and Friday. The reports cite Crypto In America, which relied on four industry sources who spoke with Democratic staff on the House Financial Services Committee, and a November 4 post by journalist Eleanor Terrett. The text is unpublished, so the details are secondhand, and Waters' press office did not respond to a request for comment, Disruption Banking said.

The draft would replace the framework of the CLARITY Act, which the House passed 294-134 in July 2025 and which gives the CFTC primary oversight of spot digital-commodity markets. The Senate blocked it 49-50 on September 15. The new bill is said to build on Waters' 2025 Crypto Investor and Consumer Bill of Rights amendment, which called for 24/7 customer service, SIPC-style protection for customer assets, tighter custody rules, monthly proof-of-reserves attestations and limits on platforms trading against their own customers. It would also carry provisions Senate Democrats negotiated with Republicans, plus ethics rules aimed at crypto activity by Trump and other officials.

Justin Slaughter, a former Democratic policy adviser now at Paradigm, replied on X that the drafting has been under way "since summer." Republicans familiar with the effort have dismissed it as a "messaging bill," Disruption Banking said, and Trump can veto anything that passes. Waters is set to chair the committee in the next Congress, which convenes in January 2027.