Eleanor Terrett reports: House Democrats are discussing expanding Maxine Waters’s proposal into a broader crypto market structure bill
Journalist Eleanor Terrett posted on X on November 4, 2026, that House Democrats are discussing expanding Representative Maxine Waters’s Crypto Investor and Consumer Bill of Rights (a 2025 amendment to the Clarity Act) into a broader crypto “market structure” bill in the next Congress.
According to three industry sources who spoke with Democratic staff, the proposal would incorporate the Democratic provisions in the Clarity Act that Waters previously introduced in the House but that were not adopted, as well as provisions agreed to by Senate Democrats and Republicans before the procedural vote in September. The items under discussion include giving the SEC a larger role in crypto market regulation, limiting the CFTC’s role, and possibly adding further ethics provisions to restrict crypto activity by President Trump and other federal officials.
Republicans described it as a messaging bill. The Clarity Act previously passed the House in July 2025 and failed 49-50 in a Senate procedural vote in September.
Original source:
Title: SCOOP: House Democrats are discussing plans to expand... Publisher: Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) Publication date: 2026-11-04 URL: https://x.com/EleanorTerrett/status/2118041922011021418 Source type: reporter’s original post (based on industry sources) Verification status: full text actually read in this issue, verification date 2026-11-04 Supporting content: supports all key facts in the body, including the discussion plans, expansion of Waters’s proposal, inclusion of related provisions, changes to SEC/CFTC roles, ethics provisions, and Republicans’ characterization of it as a messaging bill
ABAB AI Insight
The Clarity Act is a market structure bill pushed by the U.S. crypto industry to clarify SEC and CFTC jurisdiction over digital assets. After the bill won bipartisan support in the House, it failed to advance in the Senate because of disagreements over ethics provisions, stablecoin yields, and developer protections. If Democrats take control of the House after the midterm elections, the legislative agenda may be redirected again.
The discussion reported by Terrett focuses on expanding Waters’s earlier consumer-protection framework into a full market structure bill and strengthening the SEC’s role and ethics restrictions on officials. This is consistent with the conflict-of-interest and consumer-protection concerns emphasized by Democrats in earlier Senate talks. Republicans’ description of it as a messaging bill suggests that its prospects for passage are limited under the current political landscape.
This discussion is an internal exploration for the next Congress and has not yet become a formal bill text. The key question is whether Democrats will formally introduce similar text in the new Congress and whether the scope of the ethics provisions will expand further to cover crypto projects linked to the Trump family.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
Reports based on anonymous sources are discussion-stage information and do not mean that a formal legislative proposal or bipartisan consensus has been formed.
Giving the SEC a larger role and restricting officials’ crypto activity are specific policy directions; the final text and path to passage will depend on subsequent negotiations and procedure.