Senator Pauses Swipe-Fee Amendment to Protect Crypto Market-Structure Bill

Senate negotiators are actively containing potential flashpoints to keep a bipartisan crypto market-structure bill moving after Sen. Roger Marshall agreed privately not to press a payments amendment that could have fractured committee support. The provision sought to require more competitive pricing on card swipe fees and drew both cross-party sponsors and sharp opposition from banks and large retailers, raising the prospect of a politically charged showdown. White House officials intervened behind the scenes to discourage collateral fights that could scuttle the broader crypto measure. Committee leaders also rescheduled the Agriculture markup — officially in part to avoid weather disruption — a delay that also provides breathing room to firm up agreement on amendment management. At the same time, tensions between panels have intensified: the Senate Banking Committee’s draft runs more than 270 pages and drew over 70 proposed changes, and senior members of the Judiciary Committee have lodged a formal objection to a developer-exemption that would clarify that protocol contributors who never control user funds are not money transmitters. Judiciary leaders say the language implicates criminal statutes and investigatory authorities overseen by Justice Department-related panels and that they lacked adequate opportunity to weigh in. That dispute has practical consequences: at least one prominent exchange publicly withheld support for the Banking draft, prompting White House officials to reassess administrative backing and increasing pressure on negotiators to narrow differences. Industry stakeholders from banks to DeFi builders are using the pause to press for clarifications on tokenized securities, stablecoin mechanics and third-party service roles. The combined effect is a tactical push to limit potentially divisive amendments in committee — especially those that stretch beyond core market-structure questions — while leaders attempt to align the Agriculture and Banking timetables. If negotiators can translate private agreements and jurisdictional concessions into durable committee votes, the legislation stands a better chance of emerging as a unified package; if not, intercommittee friction and competing policy fights may prolong uncertainty and complicate prospects before midterm and appropriations pressures mount.