The Senate Banking Committee will launch a subcommittee on digital assets
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The Senate Banking Committee is preparing to announce the creation of its first-ever subcommittee dedicated to digital assets, FOX Business has learned.
The move comes just days after Republicans officially took control of the Senate last week and ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on January 20. This would give the GOP full control of the government, as it was able to control the House after the election. It is also seen as a commitment by Senate Republicans to prioritize crypto legislation and support Trump’s campaign promise to make America the world’s crypto hub.
The creation of a crypto subcommittee is one of South Carolina Senator Tim Scott’s first orders as the new chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, which oversees banks and financial regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)-elect meets with the media on November 9, 2020 in Washington, DC. The Senate is reconvening for the first time since the 2020 presidential election and the coronavirus relief package is high on their priority list. (P (Stefani Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images/Getty Images)
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Scott hopes to emulate the success of the crypto subcommittee in the lower house established in 2023 by former North Carolina Congressman Patrick McHenry. Last year, the House Financial Services Committee made history by passing a piece of crypto legislation written by the digital assets subcommittee called the “FIT21” bill, which aims to establish a regulatory framework for digital assets. The bill still needs to be presented to the full House of Representatives for debate and vote and, if passed, to the Senate.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee, US, Saturday, July 27, 2024. Trump said he will ask the government to create a large Bitcoin reserve if he returns to the White House with a bid. to (Photographer: Brett Carlsen/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
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News of the new Senate subcommittee was first reported by Punchbowl News and confirmed to FOX Business by two Senate aides. Aides also confirmed that Scott has temporarily selected Wyoming Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis, a bitcoin advocate, to chair the subcommittee pending a confirmation vote in the coming days.
Republican members of the subcommittee, according to an internal memo released by Scott and viewed by FOX Business, include freshmen Senators Bernie Moreno of Ohio and Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania and Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee. Moreno and McCormick both received significant financial support from the $3.5 billion crypto industry during separate races in the 2024 election due to their pro-crypto leanings. Moreno received more than $40 million in industry funding from pro-crypto super PACs, which helped him win the seat over eighteen-year incumbent Senator Sherrod Brown.
Ohio Senate candidates Bernie Moreno, Republican, (L) and Sen. Sherrod Brown, Democrat (R).
It is not yet clear which Democratic Senators will serve on the subcommittee. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is now the top Democrat on the Banking Committee and her historic anti-crypto views are expected to continue.
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Two Democratic senators, Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Andy Kim of New Jersey are both considered pro-industry and may get looks to serve on the subcommittee. Senator Pete Ricketts, former governor of Nebraska, is also very pro-crypto. While governor, Ricketts signed the Nebraska Financial Innovation Act, which approved a new charter for digital warehouses, allowing them to store crypto.
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