Deniz 
Should Republican Sen. Tim Scott be appointed chairman of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, he suggested forming a subcommittee dedicated to the digital asset sector.
Currently serving as the top Republican on the committee headed by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Scott has been supportive of the crypto sector. Should Republicans account for the majority of the presently Democrat-owned Senate in the next elections, Scott may spearhead the committee.
“Wouldn’t it be kind of cool if we had a subcommittee on the banking committee focusing on the industry so that we bring more light to the conversation and more hearings on the industry so that we get things done faster?” Scott said on Wednesday during the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium.
Challenges in the Senate Banking Committee
Like the Senate Banking Committee, the House Financial Services Committee has jurisdiction over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, has a group dedicated to digital assets, and has conducted several hearings targeted at crypto over the years.
“Headwinds” in the Senate Banking Committee, especially from Brown and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., on Wednesday during the panel with Scott.
Lummis remarked, “We’ve hit the wall on the banking committee; they have been quite influential with their Democrat side of the aisle colleagues.”
Lummis Optimistic About Crypto Legislation
Lummis still sounded confident, though, that legislation may pass this year. She added that a future law to control cryptocurrencies must pass the Senate Agriculture Committee. Under a best-case scenario, Lummis said, a measure emphasizing the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, under its jurisdiction, passes out of that committee following the election.
Legislation would then be “Christmas-treed,” Lummis said, with add-ons including wording to control stablecoins and maybe Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s SAFER Banking Act. That legislation would provide banks with access to cannabis companies. Earlier this year, ideas surfaced combining crypto laws with a bill allowing financial institutions to offer services to the marijuana sector.
Lummis added that declining days to work in Washington could provide difficulties.
Ongoing Legislative Efforts
Though they have not yet been presented before President Joe Biden’s desk, lawmakers in Washington are working on several measures to control cryptocurrencies. Legislators in the Senate are working on laws controlling the crypto sector. Introduced in April, a bill by Sens. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., would restrict algorithmic stablecoins while building a framework for stablecoins. Expected to be brought back up in September, Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., is also working on legislation to control cryptocurrencies.
On the House side, legislators enacted a Republican-led crypto market structure bill in May that grants the CFTC additional jurisdiction over “digital commodities” and declares the SEC will monitor digital assets presented as part of an investment contract. Work on legislation controlling stablecoins has also been in progress.
Last week at a Crypto4 Harris town hall, Schumer declared that he plans to draft laws controlling cryptocurrencies by the end of this year.
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