Week of January 26, 2026: Senate Ag Committee advances DCIA; SEC & CFTC roundtable; HFSC will hold hearings on SEC

Senate Agriculture Committee Advances Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act 

On January 29, 2026, the Senate Agriculture (Ag) Committee advanced the Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act out of Committee by a party line vote of 12-11. 

As emphasized by Ag Chairman John Boozman (R-AR), the legislation would provide authority to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to regulate digital commodities and strengthen consumer protections for the digital assets market in the United States. The bill contains statutory developer protections in Section 207, protecting noncustodial software developers and infrastructure providers from improper regulatory treatment. 

Notably, during the markup, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) underscored the importance of “protections for self custody and innovative technology”, and emphasized that lawmakers should not “criminalize people who are writing code.”

Members also discussed several proposed amendments, including issues regarding ethics rules for elected officials, protections against illicit finance, and the need for a fully staffed bipartisan CFTC. All votes fell 12-11 in favor of the Republican majority and no amendments were adopted. Thus, the bill text remains the same as noticed before markup, though negotiations are expected to continue after the bill is passed out of Committee, as Ag Committee rules permit further revisions post-markup.. 

DEF will continue to monitor developments and work with both Committees to advocate for the rights of software developers and users of decentralized technologies. 

SEC and CFTC Host Crypto Regulatory Harmonization Roundtable

On January 29, 2026, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and CFTC held a joint event, “SEC-CFTC Harmonization: U.S. Financial Leadership in the Crypto Era,” to discuss collaboration between the two agencies. The event, hosted by SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and CFTC Chairman Michael Selig, and moderated by Crypto in America reporter Eleanor Terrett, featured discussion on both agencies’ upcoming rulemaking agenda, including critical issues pertaining to DeFi, self-custody, perpetual futures, prediction markets, tokenized securities, and asset classification.

SEC Chairman Atkins opened his remarks by saying, “fragmented regulation in an integrated market is not a safeguard for investors.” Through Project Crypto and increased interagency coordination, the regulators aim to “deliver clearer guidance, consistent standards, and a regulatory framework that reflects how markets actually function instead of how they used to.” This approach is further reflected in the “Statement on Tokenized Securities” released by SEC on January 28, 2026, which provides greater clarity on the application of the federal securities laws to crypto assets.

Notably, in CFTC Chairman Selig’s first public remarks, he highlighted the importance of safe harbors for software developers and users, noting that existing CFTC rules were designed for centralized intermediaries and must be revisited to accommodate onchain financial markets. Selig noted that, under his leadership, the agency will seek to encourage software innovation and support builders, notably by considering innovation exemptions and establishing clear safe harbors. He emphasized the need for workable frameworks to offer perpetual derivatives in the United States, and stated that the agency will use available tools to onshore perpetual and other novel derivative products across both centralized and decentralized markets, subject to appropriate safeguards. 

House Financial Services Committee Plans Hearings on SEC 

Next week on February 4, 2026, the House Financial Services Committee’s (HFSC) Subcommittee on Capital Markets will hold a hearing entitled, “A New Day at the SEC: Restoring Accountability, Due Process, and Public Confidence,” to examine the direction and governance of the SEC. Separately, on February 11, 2026, HFSC will hold another hearing entitled, “Oversight of the Securities and Exchange Commission.” DEF will track the hearing and related developments.

A livestream of the hearings next week are available here. 

DeFi Dictionary 

Here comes the DeFi Definition of the Week: Information Honeypot.

Notable and Quotable

“On-chain systems exist on a spectrum of decentralization. In certain instances, there may exist non-custodial digital wallets or user interfaces that merely function as digital rails through which users can directly interact with programmatic, self-executing software code. In other instances, there may be more centralized touchpoints. […] CFTC will explore ways in which the agency can encourage innovation in software development and support builders as they work toward product market fit, including by assessing whether an innovation exemption may be appropriate in certain circumstances. At every step, our actions will reflect a commitment to establish clear and unambiguous safe harbors for software developers to ensure that the crypto innovations of today and tomorrow are Made in America.”

—CFTC Chair Michael Selig, at the opening remarks for the SEC-CFTC Harmonization: U.S. Financial Leadership in the Crypto Era

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