In a move that could fundamentally reshape how digital assets are traded in the U.S., lawmakers are advancing a bill that finally promises what the crypto industry has spent years demanding: regulatory clarity. For Brandon Mulvihill, Co-Founder and CEO of Crossover Markets, the Market Structure Bill is more than just legislation—it’s a turning point.
“This is the first time ever in cryptocurrency trading that we’re talking about a national, regulatory framework,” Mulvihill said. “Every other asset class in financial services benefits from that. Crypto has been the exception,” he told Traders Magazine.
The Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act—better known as the Market Structure Bill—seeks to create a unified federal framework for regulating digital assets.
The bill clarifies which digital assets fall under the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) versus the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), while also defining key market roles such as digital commodity exchanges, custodians, and brokers.
Importantly, it eliminates the need for firms to obtain a patchwork of state-by-state licenses, offering instead a streamlined national path to compliance. The bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives with bipartisan support on May 22, 2024, marking the first time a standalone crypto market structure bill cleared the full House.
As of 2025, it remains under Senate consideration, with mounting pressure from the industry and investors for Congress to finalize a clear and comprehensive regulatory framework before more innovation and liquidity move offshore.
Mulvihill has been closely involved in shaping the bill, and he sees it as a necessary evolution that brings digital assets closer to the standards of traditional finance, without smothering the innovation that defines the space. “The cryptocurrency market started—as most markets do—in an unregulated format,” he explained.
“That led the industry to adopt state-by-state Money Transmitter Licenses (MTLs), which were never really built for this purpose. The result was a patchwork system that forced companies down a vertically integrated path, regardless of whether that made sense for their business model,” he said.
The Market Structure Bill seeks to modernize the regulatory landscape by clearly defining the roles of market participants—custodians, market makers, and digital commodity exchanges—and aligning each with responsibilities suited to their specific functions.
“It allows crypto to be regulated in a format analogous to traditional finance,” Mulvihill said. “If a firm wants to be vertically integrated, great. But if they want to specialize—like we do at Crossover—they can just tick that one box and operate accordingly.”
Crossover’s business model, as an execution-only venue, doesn’t touch client funds or act as a counterparty, Mulvihill said. That operational simplicity allows the firm to focus exclusively on performance and infrastructure. “Our platform CROSSx currently matches trades in single-digit microseconds,” he noted, “with 1,151 FIX sessions already deployed in production. The DCE rules in the bill make it possible for firms like ours to scale efficiently without possibly being burdened by capital requirements intended for businesses that handle client money.”
Mulvihill sees the bill’s dual-path compliance approach as a smart move—offering regulated entities a clearer, faster way to enter the market without starting from scratch. “There should be a very clean pathway for how traditional financial institutions can get involved in crypto, should they wish to do so,” he said. “We want the U.S. to be the focal point of the global crypto market, and that means making it easier for both incumbent players and crypto natives to operate here.”
For years, regulatory ambiguity has driven liquidity and innovation offshore. Mulvihill believes this bill could reverse that trend. “The answer is a resounding yes,” he said when asked if this could make the U.S. a global crypto hub again. “We don’t need to reinvent the wheel—we just need to apply the kind of frameworks we already use in other asset classes, with tweaks for crypto’s nuances.”
As other jurisdictions like the EU move quickly with comprehensive legislation such as MiCA, the U.S. risks losing its edge. “Speed is critical because the world is moving at an unbelievable pace,” Mulvihill warned. “We’re already seeing areas of critical mass develop offshore, and those are very difficult to undo.”
He also pointed out that the current imbalance between crypto-native firms and traditional finance players could worsen without action. “Right now, it’s easier for crypto firms to buy their way into traditional financial products than it is for regulated TradFi firms to touch crypto,” he said. “That asymmetry needs to be addressed. This bill helps shut down that imbalance and promotes fair competition.”
Ultimately, Mulvihill views the bill as a foundational piece of infrastructure—not just for firms like his, but for the broader maturation of the industry. “When firms understand the rules of the road, they’re more likely to invest, build, and scale in the U.S.,” he said. “There are many roles to play in this market, and it’s refreshing to finally see those roles clearly defined,” he concluded.
