House Democrats are reportedly set to progress crypto legislation after sweeping the U.S. midterm elections. According to a report, the party plans to expand the Crypto Investor and Consumer Bill of Rights—Rep. Maxine Waters’ 2025 amendment to the Clarity Act—into a broader market structure bill that would give the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) more power to supervise the crypto markets.

Journalist Eleanor Terrett reported the plans on X on November 4, citing sources. According to the report, the proposal would also limit the role of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the other top U.S. markets regulator. The discussions signal Democratic plans to shape crypto market rules in the next Congress. The proposal remains at the discussion stage, with no legislative timeline included in the report.

🚨SCOOP: House Democrats are discussing plans to expand the Crypto Investor and Consumer Bill of Rights, @RepMaxineWaters’ amendment to the Clarity Act in 2025, into a broader crypto “market structure” bill next Congress. The proposal would fold in Democratic Clarity Act…

— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) November 4, 2026

On the surface, the midterm election results could be seen as a major hit to crypto policy in the U.S. President Trump’s Republican administration has been widely regarded as the pro-crypto party, while the Democrats have been deemed more hostile to the industry. However, experts told Decrypt that the tide might be turning, and that crypto policy is evolving into a more bipartisan issue.

Crypto Candidates and the Clarity Act

Advocacy organization Stand With Crypto endorsed 45 candidates in the midterms, according to its election tracker. The tracker showed 27 pro-crypto candidate wins, 12 losses, and six races still live at the time of writing. Nearly half of the endorsed candidates were Democrats.

“We’re proud to see a majority of our endorsed candidates win their elections,” Mason Lynaugh, executive director of Stand With Crypto, said in a statement shared with Decrypt. “To the candidates who won’t return to Washington, thank you for going to bat for crypto-owning Americans when it counted.”

Congratulations to the pro-crypto champions who won their elections, including more than 50 pro-crypto new members heading to Congress. In the closest races, our advocates showed up: in Florida’s 9th District, Darren Soto won by 1,477 votes. In that same district, we mobilized… pic.twitter.com/lcq055GNET

— Stand With Crypto🛡️ (@standwithcrypto) November 4, 2026

James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, described Republican Bryan Steil as a “meaningful loss” for crypto. The Wisconsin congressman was the chair of the House digital assets subcommittee and closely involved in efforts to advance the Clarity Act, which stalled in the Senate earlier this year.

Butterfill also highlighted several winners who have supported crypto policy, including Democrats Chris Pappas in New Hampshire and James Talarico in Texas, as well as Wyoming Republican Harriet Hageman. He stressed, however, that the challenge now is “converting” that support into passing legislation. Some believe that could slow an already difficult path for the Clarity Act.

“I wouldn’t say it’s game over for Clarity, but passing it has become tougher,” Carlos Guzman, vice president of research at crypto trading firm GSR, told Decrypt. “Some Democrats support clearer crypto rules, but I wouldn’t expect it to be high on their agenda. Any agreement will likely require stronger provisions on things like consumer protection and conflicts of interest.”

The Clarity Act looks to establish rules for crypto markets and has been batted back and forth since 2025. Democrats have pushed back on the bill, citing Trump’s crypto conflicts of interest, with Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) pushing for the legislation to ban officials and their families from profiting from the sector.

“For other crypto policies, the election doesn’t automatically replace the leadership of the SEC or CFTC or stop their rulemaking,” Guzman said. “Congressional oversight does change, however, so we might see more scrutiny of regulatory decisions, with Democrats also able to influence agency funding and future appointments.”

Butterfill added that he believes crypto is becoming less dependent on the Clarity Act, as the SEC and CFTC push for regulatory clarity without the need for Congress. He also said AI regulation may take eyes away from crypto, slowing crypto policy in the process.

Following the midterms, Bitcoin has exhibited volatility, and is currently trading at around $76,820, down 4.1% on the day, per Decrypt data.

“The result alone would not make me change my medium-term Bitcoin outlook,” Butterfill told Decrypt. “Slower reform could delay some institutional activity, but we would expect the more direct impact to fall on US crypto businesses reliant on new regulatory permissions. We would revisit the outlook if political uncertainty materially weakened investment flows or tightened financial conditions.”