The post What Congress Has Left to Do This Year appeared com. The restarted Senate is moving forward with certain crypto initiatives, but how much time is left compared to how much work is left, really? You’re reading State of Crypto, a CoinDesk newsletter looking at the intersection of cryptocurrency and government. Click here to sign up for future editions. The narrative Now that Congress is back from the government shutdown, all eyes are on how it will proceed on crypto issues. There are a few components to this: Mike Selig’s nomination to run the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, market structure legislation and other crypto matters. Why it matters Time is starting to run out for the crypto industry to lock in its wins from the 2024 election. While the GENIUS Act was a strong start for crypto businesses, and the Securities and Exchange Commission and CFTC are continuing their efforts to create new rules for the industry, the market structure bill is still far from completion. Congress has less than 40 days left this year and just a handful of months next year before it disperses for the midterm elections. Breaking it down The Senate Agriculture Committee voted 13-11 to advance CFTC Chair nominee Mike Selig’s name to the full Senate for a floor vote; if he secures a majority of votes, he should get sworn in shortly after. This may happen in the coming weeks. Selig said crypto is an important issue for the CFTC to look into, speaking to specific issues like onchain markets and the role of intermediaries, among other things. “The CFTC has a critical mission to protect these markets,” he said at his hearing on Wednesday. “This is a real opportunity to develop a framework that can allow for software developers to thrive, for new exchanges to crop up that are going to protect investors and.