Senate weighs crypto bill, BTC miners rally, 40% accept crypto
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US lawmakers are set to resume work in Washington this week with a Senate panel preparing to consider amendments to a long-anticipated digital asset market structure bill. Separately, Bitcoin mining stocks advanced after a US winter storm curtailed hashrate, and a PayPal survey indicates nearly 40% of US merchants now accept crypto at checkout.
US senators to weigh CFTC, other amendments to crypto market structure bill
Following weather-related delays to committee schedules, senators are expected to turn their attention to proposed changes to the Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act (DCIA), which would establish a framework for digital asset market structure. The Senate Agriculture Committee is slated to hold a markup on Thursday, one of the chamber’s earliest efforts to advance market structure legislation after the Senate Banking Committee postponed its own markup when Coinbase withdrew support for the bill.
As of publication, 11 DCIA amendments were publicly available. Proposals include restricting lawmakers and White House officials from engaging with the crypto industry, requiring competition on credit card swipe fees, and addressing foreign interference in US markets. Another amendment would delay implementation until the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has at least four commissioners confirmed by the Senate.
The CFTC-related amendment was introduced by Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota in response to a shortage of commissioners at the agency following the resignation of acting chair Caroline Pham and other members in 2025. Klobuchar’s proposal would prevent the law from taking effect “until at least four commissioners” are confirmed at the CFTC.
Top Bitcoin mining stocks rise amid US winter storm hashrate decline
Bitcoin mining equities rose on Wednesday after severe winter weather in the United States prompted some operators to reduce activity, lowering block competition and improving profitability for miners that remained online.
Shares of several major miners posted double-digit gains over the past 24 hours. TeraWulf advanced about 11%, Iren Limited gained roughly 14%, and Cipher Mining climbed around 13%, according to Barchart data.
The move followed a drop in the Bitcoin network’s hashrate to a seven-month low of 663 exahashes per second (EH/s) on Sunday, a 40% decline in two days amid the storm. By Wednesday, hashrate had recovered to 814 EH/s but remained below the roughly 1.1 zettahash per second (ZH/s) level observed before the weekend, according to Coinwarz.
Bitcoin hashrate in EH/S, 1-month chart. Source: Coinwarz
A lower hashrate indicates fewer miners are online, which reduces competition to mine blocks on the Bitcoin network and can improve profitability for active miners.
Bitcoin mining stock performance. Source: Barchart
Nearly 40% of US merchants accept crypto: PayPal
Nearly 40% of US merchants now accept cryptocurrency at checkout amid rising customer interest in digital asset payments, according to a PayPal survey published Tuesday. The findings are based on responses from 619 payment-strategy decision-makers across multiple industries.
PayPal vice president May Zabaneh said crypto payments are moving from experimentation into everyday commerce. Nearly nine in 10 merchants surveyed reported receiving customer inquiries about paying with crypto.
The survey found 84% of merchants believe crypto payments will become mainstream within five years. Adoption is highest among large enterprises at 50%, compared with 32% of midsized businesses and 34% of small companies that accept crypto. PayPal noted that simplifying payment infrastructure could accelerate adoption, with 90% of merchants indicating they would consider accepting crypto if the process were as straightforward as credit card payments.
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