Republican lawmakers still hope for crypto legislation this year

Nathan Howard/Bloomberg

WASHINGTON — Efforts to pass a bill establishing a regulatory structure for cryptocurrencies in the United States remain on track, with some key Republican lawmakers holding out hope of passing a comprehensive bill before the end of the year.

Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., a member of the Senate Banking Committee who drafted its own legislation When it comes to cryptocurrency regulation in the past, both have signaled optimism that cryptocurrency proposals could be tied to a must-pass piece of legislation.

McHenry mentioned a year-end spending plan or the National Defense Authorization Act as possible vehicles for a crypto bill.

“But if it doesn’t happen in this Congress, it will happen,” he said. “It will happen because there is a willingness in both parties to set clear rules and keep pace with what Europe, Japan, Singapore and other regulators around the world are doing.”

McHenry is expected to retire after this session and after having successfully Piloting a major digital asset bill by the House of Representatives earlier this year. The bill garnered a unexpected level of bipartisan supportwith 71 House Democrats joining Republicans to pass the measure.

The bill has stalled in the Senate, where it faces opposition from noted crypto skeptics such as Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.

“There are seeds that you plant that may not grow in the time frame that you have,” McHenry said. “The political footprints that I’ve left in the sand, maybe somebody else’s name will be on it once the bill is signed, but I think we have a good framework.”

Lummis, meanwhile, is pushing for the Senate Agriculture Committee to take the issue to the finish line in the coming months.

“I think we will be able to do something during the transition period,” she said. “I am optimistic.”

She referred to a Senate Agriculture Committee bill that was developed by the task force. President Senator Debbie StabenowD-Mich., which defines much of the jurisdiction of digital assets within the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a commodity, rather than a security, that would be regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“If this bill gets out of the Senate Agriculture Committee during the transition period, then it will have what we call Christmas trees and other additional amendments that will be added to it to create a larger financial services bill.”

Some of the measures that could be added to such an effort could include the SAFER Banking Act, which would clarify that banks can provide services to legal marijuana businesses, she said.

“I think there are minor changes that can be made to the bill in the Senate Agriculture Committee that could mean it gets out of committee this year,” she said. “So I don’t really want to wait because there’s going to be so much to do in early 2025 that I’m afraid we’re not going to get it done until late 2025 and we can’t wait any longer.”