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The Senate Banking Committee is preparing to announce the creation of its first subcommittee dedicated to digital assets, Fox Business has learned.
The move comes days after Republicans officially took over the Senate last week and days after President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20. That would complete the GOP's hold on government as it retains control of the House after the election It is also seen as a pledge by Senate Republicans to prioritize crypto legislation and support Trump's campaign promise to make America the world's crypto hub.
Creating a crypto subcommittee is one of the first orders of business for South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, 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 Loomis (R-WY) 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 a coronavirus relief package is high on their list of priorities. (p (Stephanie Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images/Getty Images)
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Scott hopes to emulate the success of the lower chamber crypto subcommittee established in 2023 by former North Carolina congressman Patrick McHenry. Last year, the House Financial Services Committee made history by passing a crypto law called the “FIT21” bill drafted by the Digital Assets Subcommittee, which aimed to establish a regulatory framework for digital assets. The bill must still be presented to the full House of Representatives for a debate and vote, and if passed, will go to the Senate.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S., Saturday, July 27, 2024. Trump said that if he returned to the White House with a bid, he would ask the government to create a huge reserve of Bitcoin. from (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 confirmed that Scott has temporarily selected Republican Senator from Wyoming Cynthia Loomis, a bitcoin advocate, to chair the subcommittee pending a ratification vote that will be held in the coming days.
Republican members tentatively tapped for the subcommittee, according to an internal memo issued by Scott and seen by FOX Business, include freshman senators Bernie Moreno of Ohio and Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania, as well as Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee. Both Moreno and McCormick 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, which helped him win the seat from incumbent Senator Sherrod Brown who had held it for eighteen years.
Ohio Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, a Republican, (L) and Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat (R).
It is currently unclear which Democratic senators will serve on the subcommittee. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is now the top Democrat on the Banking Committee and is expected to continue her historically anti-crypto views.
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Two freshman Democratic senators, Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Andy Kim of New Jersey, are both considered supporters of the industry and could look to serve on the subcommittee. Senator Pete Ricketts, the former governor of Nebraska, is also very crypto supportive. While governor, Ricketts signed the Nebraska Financial Innovation Act, which authorized a new charter for digital asset depositories, allowing them to hold crypto in custody.