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Coinbase, Kraken and Gemini Push Senate Panel to Remove Crypto Market Manipulation Clause

According to the report, the exchanges urged lawmakers to drop a listing standard they say is poorly suited to spot crypto markets after the Senate Agriculture Committee advanced the bill in January.

Fact Check
The claim is directly and fully supported by the Politico primary report ('Crypto giants pushed to ease rules on risky assets in Senate bill'), which is based on red-line edits obtained by Politico showing Coinbase, Kraken, and Gemini explicitly lobbying to remove the 'not readily susceptible to manipulation' listing standard from the Senate Agriculture Committee's portion of the digital assets market structure bill. The report also confirms the Senate Agriculture Committee advanced the bill in January along party lines. Both crypto.news and PANewsLab independently corroborate all key details. The claim's characterization of the clause as 'poorly suited to spot crypto markets' aligns with the exchanges' stated argument that the standard mirrors CFTC requirements for traditional commodity derivatives and is inappropriate for spot crypto. No conflicting evidence was found.
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Summary

Coinbase, Kraken and Gemini are urging lawmakers to remove a clause in a digital asset market structure bill that would require exchanges to list only assets considered not easily manipulated. The exchanges argue that a CFTC-style standard does not fit spot crypto markets. Their push follows the Senate Agriculture Committee’s advancement of the bill in January, keeping listing standards at the center of debate over how U.S. crypto markets should be regulated.

Terms & Concepts
  • CFTC: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the U.S. regulator that oversees derivatives markets and could receive broader authority over crypto spot markets under proposed legislation.
  • Spot crypto markets: Markets where cryptocurrencies are bought and sold for immediate delivery rather than through futures or other derivatives contracts.
  • Digital asset: A broad term for blockchain-based tokens or cryptocurrencies covered by proposed market structure legislation.