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The Senate Banking Committee is getting ready 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 over the Senate last week and ahead of the inauguration of president-elect Donald Trump on January 20. This will make the GOP’s hold over government complete, since it retained control of the House after the election. It’s also seen as a commitment by Senate Republicans to prioritize crypto legislation and support Trump’s campaign promise of making America the crypto epicenter of the world.
The creation of the crypto subcommittee is one of South Carolina Senator Tim Scott’s first orders of business as the new chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, which oversees banks and financial regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
Senator-elect Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) meets with the media on November 9, 2020 in Washington, DC. The Senate is reconvening for the first time after the 2020 presidential election and a coronavirus relief package is high on their list of priorities. (P (Stefani Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images / Getty Images)
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Scott is hoping to emulate the success of the crypto subcommittee in the lower chamber 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 drafted by the digital assets subcommittee called the “FIT21” bill, which aimed to establish a regulatory framework for digital assets. The bill still needs to be presented to the full House of Representatives for a debate and vote and, if passed, advance to the Senate.
Former US President Donald Trump speaks at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee, US, on Saturday, July 27, 2024. Trump said he would ask the government to create a massive reserve of Bitcoin if he returns to the White House in 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. The aides also confirmed that Scott has tentatively selected Republican Senator from Wyoming Cynthia Lummis, a bitcoin advocate, to chair the subcommittee pending an approval vote which will take place in the coming days.
Republican members tentatively tapped for the subcommittee, according to an internal memo issued by Scott and viewed by FOX Business, include freshman Senators Bernie Moreno from Ohio and Dave McCormick from Pennsylvania as well as Thom Tillis from North Carolina and Tennessee’s Bill Hagerty. Moreno and McCormick both received significant financial support from the $3.5 trillion crypto industry during their respective races in the 2024 election thanks to their pro-crypto leanings. Moreno received more than $40 million in industry funds funneled through pro-crypto super PACs, helping him win the seat from incumbent Senator Sherrod Brown who had occupied it for eighteen years.
Ohio Senate candidates Bernie Moreno, a Republican, (L) and Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat (R).
It’s currently unclear which Democratic Senators will serve on the subcommittee. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is now the top Democrat on the Banking Committee and her historically anti-crypto views are expected to continue.
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Two freshman Democratic Senators, Arizona’s Ruben Gallego and New Jersey’s Andy Kim are both considered supporters of the industry and may get a look to serve on the subcommittee. Senator Pete Ricketts, the former governor of Nebraska, is also very pro-crypto. While governor, Ricketts signed the Nebraska Financial Innovation Act, which authorized a new charter for digital asset depositories, allowing them to custody crypto.
