Crypto market structure legislation is closer to becoming law than at any point in the industry's history. After years of regulatory uncertainty, multiple failed legislative efforts, and an adversarial relationship between Washington and the digital asset industry, lawmakers have finally produced a bill with bipartisan support, White House backing, and a viable path through Congress.
But according to Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) — one of the architects behind both FIT21 and the CLARITY Act — the industry's biggest challenge may no longer be writing the legislation.
It may be beating the clock.
"We are not going to get this done if we don't get it done this year," Johnson told Solana Policy Institute's Kristin Smith during an interview at SPI's Solana Summit in Chicago. "That's the most likely scenario. I don't think failure is an option."
The warning reflects a growing reality in Washington. While much of the industry's attention has focused on Senate negotiations and legislative text, Johnson argues that the political conditions that made the CLARITY Act possible will not last forever.
After all, the current coalition didn't emerge overnight.
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Johnson has spent years working on crypto policy from an unusual perch: the House Agriculture Committee. While the committee's involvement often surprises newcomers to the debate, its jurisdiction stems from oversight of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and commodity markets more broadly.
That connection became increasingly important as policymakers grappled with Bitcoin's status.
"Even Gary Gensler begrudgingly acknowledged that Bitcoin was clearly a commodity and not a security," Johnson said. The challenge, however, was never Bitcoin itself. The real question was how to create a framework for the thousands of digital assets that emerged after it.
Congress's first serious attempt came through FIT21, legislation Johnson helped craft alongside House Financial Services leaders including Patrick McHenry, French Hill, and G.T. Thompson. Today, Johnson speaks about FIT21 with a degree of humility uncommon in Washington.
"We got a lot of things wrong," he said. The biggest issue, in his view, was the bill's attempt to determine when a digital asset could transition from being regulated as a security to being regulated as a commodity. FIT21 relied heavily on concepts surrounding decentralization, creating a framework that many in the industry ultimately viewed as overly complex.