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Crypto Win? Expert Evaluates The Latest Market Structure Bill Draft—Here’s What To Know

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Crypto Win? Expert Evaluates The Latest Market Structure Bill Draft—Here’s What To Know

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As the Senate Banking Committee prepares for the markup of the anticipated crypto market structure bill, known as the CLARITY Act, an updated draft has been released following extensive negotiations. 

This new version aims to provide a clearer regulatory framework for digital assets, defining oversight responsibilities between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). 

Major Takeaways From The Crypto Bill’s Draft

The latest draft released on Monday night, includes critical provisions recognized as gains for the industry. Notably, Paul Barron, a market expert, pointed out that the bill now defines “Custodial and Ancillary Staking Services” as a recognized activity, emphasizing that such services are considered “administrative or ministerial.” 

As a result, registered intermediaries will be allowed to facilitate staking for customers while ensuring that individual assets are segregated from the platform’s own funds. However, assets can be pooled with others for efficiency, such as through an omnibus account.

The bill also reinforces the existing status quo concerning anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) regulations. Exchanges and brokers will still be required to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act, perform KYC checks, and monitor for any illicit financial activities.

Key wins for consumers include an explicit right to self-custody. Section 105(c) of the bill grants US individuals the right to maintain a hardware or software wallet for their own lawful custody of digital assets. 

Additionally, this section protects the ability to engage in direct peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions using self-custody wallets without the need for financial intermediaries.

Furthermore, the legislation aims to safeguard wallet developers. Section 109 ensures that non-controlling blockchain developers or providers of hardware or software facilitating customer custody will not be classified as money transmitters. 

This provision of the crypto market structure bill protects developers of wallets, such as those from Ledger, Tangem, and MetaMask, from being regulated as financial institutions solely based on their coding efforts.

Critical Insights On DeFi Provisions

Another significant aspect of the bill is its provisions regarding decentralized finance. The Act establishes exclusions that help protect DeFi protocols and developers from being classified as centralized exchanges (CEXs) or brokers. 

Specifically, Section 309 states that individuals will not be subject to the Securities Exchange Act solely for activities such as developing DeFi trading protocols, publishing user interfaces for blockchain systems, or operating nodes.

For consumers using DeFi products and protocols, the Act creates a legal “safe harbor,” allowing continued use of decentralized finance without the imposition of forced intermediaries. However, it is important to note that this does not provide immunity for any illicit financial activities.

Pro-crypto Senator Cynthia Lummis, who led the Republican Party’s negotiations to achieve the best possible results for digital asset growth in the country, sent the following message to her Democratic colleagues on social media: 

After months of hard work, we have bipartisan text ready for Thursday’s markup. I urge my Democrat colleagues: don’t retreat from our progress. The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act will provide the clarity needed to keep innovation in the U.S. & protect consumers. Let’s do this!

As for the crypto bill’s likelihood of passing, Barron suggests a medium-high probability, estimating a 60-70% chance it could become law in early 2026. 

However, the expert asserted that the outcome may hinge on either removing or softening the “Anti-CBDC” provisions or making concessions to banks regarding stablecoin reserves to meet the Senate threshold.

Crypto
The daily chart shows the surge in the total crypto market cap valuation on Tuesday. Source: TOTAL on TradingView.com

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com 

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Bitwise Chainlink ETF approved to list on NYSE Arca, trading set for tomorrow

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Bitwise Chainlink ETF approved to list on NYSE Arca, trading set for tomorrow

Key Takeaways

  • The Bitwise Chainlink ETF gets approval for listing on NYSE Arca.
  • Trading for the ETF could start as soon as tomorrow.

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Bitwise’s Chainlink ETF has been cleared for listing on NYSE Arca following regulatory approval. The product could begin trading as early as tomorrow.

The Bitwise Chainlink ETF is designed to offer investors exposure to the price of Chainlink (LINK), the 20th largest crypto asset by market capitalization, through a traditional brokerage account that aims to lower operational and custody barriers for investors who want exposure to the asset without holding or managing tokens themselves.

The fund will directly hold LINK, with shares set to trade on NYSE Arca under the ticker CLNK. It will not engage in staking; however, Bitwise plans to seek approval to add staking as a secondary objective in the future, which could allow the trust to earn additional LINK over time.

The ETF charges a 0.34% management fee. For the first three months after listing, Bitwise will waive the full sponsor fee on the first $500 million of assets, temporarily reducing costs for early investors.

Chainlink is a decentralized oracle network that enables smart contracts on blockchains to securely interact with external data sources and off-chain systems.

LINK was trading at $14 at press time, up 7.5% in the last 24 hours, per CoinGecko. The gains follow a market-wide rebound earlier today that lifted Bitcoin to $96,000.

The Bitwise Chainlink ETF is the second US spot fund tied to LINK, approved shortly after Grayscale converted its Chainlink Trust into a spot ETF (GLNK) late last month. The GLNK fund has reached $87.5 million in assets, per the latest disclosure.

Crypto’s Trading Boom Is Just the On-Ramp — The Real Winners Are Still Being Built

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Crypto’s Trading Boom Is Just the On-Ramp — The Real Winners Are Still Being Built

Crypto’s next phase may hinge on resisting short-term trading pivots and fixing regulatory fog, as a16z leaders warn that durable products and clear U.S. rules will decide which blockchain businesses survive and scale. Trading Dominates Crypto Today — But the Smart Money Is Positioning for What’s Next A forward-looking debate has emerged around crypto business […]

Indian banks plan massive ATM deployment

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Indian banks plan massive ATM deployment

India’s leading banks are planning to install more than 17,000 ATMs across the country’s branch banking network as part of a bid to promote cash recycling.

Editorial

This content has been selected, created and edited by the Finextra editorial team based upon its relevance and interest to our community.

In total, 17,350 machines will be installed over a six-month period with a handful of state-run banks leading the way. 

Four banks – Bank of India, Union Bank of India, Canara Bank and India Bank – will collectively be responsible for 8,000 machines.

India was one of the first countries to promote the use of digital currencies and payments and to restrict the use of cash. However, the latest drive to increase the number of ATMs should not be seen as an effort to turn back the clock. 

The majority (75%) of the newly deployed ATMs will be cash recyclers rather than conventional ATMs. According to Indian banking authorities, this will enhance operational efficiency and reduce costs.

The move has been partly caused by the collapse of Indian payments platform AGS which was declared insolvent in August 2025. AGS was one of the largest ATM service providers in India, supplying over 40,000 machines.

The company’s collapse led to many older ATMs being scrapped or replaced by newer machines from alternative vendors. 

According to a banking executive quoted by the Economic Times of India, banks are adopting a more demanding approach to their ATM procurement. “The focus is no longer just on adding ATMs, but on deploying smarter machines that can recycle cash, reduce replenishment frequency and improve uptime. After the AGS episode, banks are prioritising vendor stability, technology capability and long-term cost efficiency over sheer scale.”

 

October Crash Ended Altseason, Says Wintermute Report

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October Crash Ended Altseason, Says Wintermute Report

Retail traders spooked by the massive crypto liquidation event in October fled back to major cryptocurrencies as their hopes for an altcoin season were dashed, according to Wintermute.

Since around 2022, retail traders have been net sellers of majors such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), preferring altcoins instead, but that pattern broke in 2025, according to Wintermute’s “Digital asset OTC market 2025” report released on Tuesday. 

The October 10 liquidation event and market crash “marked a clear inflection point,” accelerating retail’s rotation back into Bitcoin and Ether, the firm said.

Data shows that retail investors were actively reducing exposure to the majors at the time, but quickly pivoted back into them after the record leverage flush. 

“This shows the immediate defensive posture following the liquidation shock and growing concerns of contagion and an imminent bear market.”

Wintermute reported that by the end of the year, retail positioning had converged with institutional, “prioritizing liquidity and resilience over peripheral risk.” 

Retail’s “defensive consolidation” rotated back into majors. Source: Wintermute

Altcoin rallies lacked conviction

The move back into majors prevented any altcoin season this cycle, and altcoins “materially underperformed” in 2025. 

“Narratives continued to emerge, but failed to persist,” the report stated.

The average altcoin rally lasted roughly 19 days in 2025, down from around 60 days the year before, “reflecting reduced conviction and more tactical risk-taking,” Wintermute added.

Related: VanEck says policy clarity could make Q1 a ‘risk-on’ quarter

This does not mean that there was a lack of narratives, but a market “showing clear signs of exhaustion,” where rallies quickly faded. 

From 2022 to 2024, altcoin rallies typically lasted from 45 to 60 days with sustained narratives including memecoins and AI. However, the median length of altcoin rallies in 2025 was just 20 days. 

“This led to altcoin rallies feeling like tactical trades rather than high conviction trends.”

Altcoin rallies lasted less than half the time in 2025. Source: Wintermute

October crash fears are subsiding

While altcoins have yet to see any real momentum going into 2026, fears and panic over the October crash have subsided, leading to renewed confidence going forward. 

Earlier this month, Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan said, “One of the reasons I think we’ve rallied to start this year is that investors have put October 10 in the rearview.”

Total market capitalization is at its highest level so far this year, following a 10%, or $300 billion, gain since Jan. 1 to reach $3.34 trillion on Wednesday, according to CoinGecko. 

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