Teachers Union Demands Senate Kill Crypto Market Structure Bill, Citing ‘Profound’ Pension Risks
The American Federation of Teachers is urging Senate leaders to halt work on the chamber’s crypto market construction invoice, warning that the proposal may expose public-sector pensions to unsafe property and strip protections which have lengthy ruled conventional securities.
In a letter sent Monday to Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott and Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren, AFT President Randi Weingarten mentioned the Responsible Financial Innovation Act would exchange present safeguards with a framework that leaves retirement plans extra susceptible than they’re at present.
AFT mentioned Crypto Market Bill Endangers Working Families’ Pensions
Weingarten wrote that the invoice “poses profound dangers to the pensions of working households,” arguing it will not present the regulation or “commonsense guardrails” wanted round crypto property and stablecoins.
She mentioned most pension techniques don’t maintain crypto due to its volatility and unclear authorized standing and warned that the laws treats digital property as in the event that they had been established and secure monetary merchandise when they don’t seem to be.
The union represents greater than 1.8 million employees in training, healthcare, and public companies, together with many whose retirement earnings is determined by state and native pension plans.
Its letter warned that the invoice would enable corporations with no connection to crypto to position their inventory on a blockchain and keep away from the registration, reporting, and oversight necessities that apply at present.
According to the union, the shift would let issuers bypass registration guidelines and take away oversight of intermediaries that transfer property between patrons and sellers.
Weingarten mentioned such a transfer would depart state and federal regulators with fewer instruments to carry unhealthy actors accountable, warning that pensions and 401(k) plans may find yourself holding property that seem conventional however are usually not topic to the identical requirements.
Senate Rekindles Push to Define Crypto Regulatory Boundaries
The Responsible Financial Innovation Act is the Senate’s primary effort to outline which crypto property fall beneath the jurisdiction of the CFTC and which belong beneath the SEC. It additionally goals to set federal guidelines for exchanges, brokers, custodians, and token issuers.
Supporters say the invoice is required to make clear a rising patchwork of crypto oversight, whereas critics argue it may break aside present securities protections with out changing them with one thing equal in energy.
The debate comes as policymakers try to find out whether or not tokenized variations of conventional devices might be traded beneath a revised federal construction and what meaning for traders who depend on the safety of established markets.
Work on the Senate invoice had slowed within the months following the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, which created a backlog throughout monetary regulatory companies.
Trump indicators invoice ending 43-day shutdown. ETFs await approvals, and markets eye potential weekend momentum.#Shutdown #Bitcoinhttps://t.co/zzvrf2SqdN
— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) November 13, 2025
Senate Staff Races to Finalize Draft as Holiday Deadline Nears
Several senators have mentioned a brand new model may emerge earlier than the 12 months ends, although the timeline stays unsure.
The political setting surrounding the invoice has grow to be more and more tense. Senator Cory Booker warned this week that the laws’s prospects had been weakened after indicators that the Supreme Court might quickly enable President Trump to fireside SEC and CFTC commissioners at will.
With no Democrats presently seated at both company, and none anticipated till a minimum of January, Booker mentioned the absence of minority commissioners complicates any invoice that is determined by these regulators to implement its framework.
The CFTC is presently led by Acting Chair Caroline Pham, who has held the place since January after Rostin Behnam stepped down.
President Trump has nominated Michael Selig, a senior SEC legal professional targeted on cryptocurrency coverage, to function the everlasting chairman, although his affirmation stays pending earlier than the Senate.
Despite the uncertainty, Senator Cynthia Lummis said she needs the Senate Banking Committee to maneuver forward with a markup of the market construction invoice as early as subsequent week.
She described workers throughout each events as “exhausted” after a number of rounds of revisions and mentioned she hopes to flow into a ultimate draft earlier than Congress leaves for the vacations.
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