- The Senate Banking Committee has so far failed to move crypto legislation, despite this year’s progress in the U.S. House, but ranking Republican Tim Scott has now joined those advocating for crypto-friendly regulation.
- He and other U.S. lawmakers spoke in support of the industry at the Bitcoin 2024 event in Tennessee, and several speakers specifically favored using bitcoin as a reserve asset for the U.S., including MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor and ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood.
- The event is preparing for an appearance from candidate and former President Donald Trump, who has recently turned his longtime crypto resistance into strong advocacy.
U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee who may be in position to be its next chairman, argued at a Bitcoin 2024 appearance on Friday that the government should “make it easy” for the crypto industry to innovate in the U.S.
It’s a common refrain from Republican lawmakers these days, but Scott – the direct counterpart of crypto skeptic Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) – had stayed relatively quiet on crypto as that committee became the bottleneck for U.S. legislation.
He broke that reticence with his lively crypto debut at Bitcoin 2024 in Nashville, Tenn., where he shouted the merits of digital assets. Scott could become chairman of that committee, which oversees U.S. financial regulation, if Republicans retake the Senate majority after the November elections.
“We have to get rid of the folks who are in the way,” he said, speaking alongside U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), and lambasting Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler as a crypto-policy roadblock. “Chairman Gensler, lord have mercy … Hit the road, Jack, and don’t you come back, no more, no more, no more.”
Before Friday, Scott, who’d been among those running for the Republican presidential nomination this year, had been relatively quiet on crypto issues, even as Democrats on the committee – such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) – became outspoken critics of the industry. His potential for grabbing the chairman gavel on the Senate Banking panel next year repeatedly came up during his time on stage with Lummis, and he said that if it happened, he’d make sure her legislation gets a prompt vote, “setting bitcoin free here at home.”
Lummis has reportedly been pushing recently for a bill that would call for the Federal Reserve to hold some bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset. She didn’t get into the topic during her appearance on Friday, though many at the event hope former President Donald Trump mentions that idea when he’s set to appear at the conference on Saturday.
Source:- yahoo.finance
