Sources say Senate Democrats have returned to the negotiating table on the Clarity Act.

According to Mars Finance, on January 17th, sources revealed that US Senate Democrats have returned to the negotiating table on the crypto market structure bill, holding a conference call with crypto industry representatives on Friday. Lawmakers showed a strong willingness to participate in the next steps. Following a major setback in the legislative process this week (the Senate's first vote on the bill was abruptly postponed), Democrats attempted to demonstrate their continued active involvement in the legislation. Attendees stated that after the midday call, industry representatives sensed that the Senate Agriculture Committee was still striving to hold a hearing before the end of the month, but were asked not to disclose specific details of the discussions. Democratic members of the two committees that need to jointly pass the crypto bill—the Senate Banking Committee and the Agriculture Committee—participated in the call the day after the Banking Committee's first hearing, originally scheduled for Thursday. The draft bill released this week has already drawn considerable criticism, with US crypto trading platform Coinbase announcing it would not support the version. As of now, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott has not set a new date for the hearing, which will be used by lawmakers to discuss amendments and potentially vote on whether to send the bill to the full Senate. According to the current schedule, the next step is the Agriculture Committee's hearing scheduled for January 27, although industry observers have questioned whether this date might be postponed. If both committees pass their respective versions of the bill—the Banking Committee's version focusing on the Securities and Exchange Commission's regulatory scope, and the Agriculture Committee's version focusing on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's jurisdiction—the two will be merged into a unified bill submitted to the full Senate for a vote. As long as the Senate's work is not further disrupted by the heated federal spending debate at the end of this month, the legislative window remains open.