Without the U.S. Congress outlining a clear system of rules, the crypto industry fears it’ll be relegated as a volatile financial backwater. But Capitol Hill is beset by drama, including a U.S. House of Representatives that fired its speaker and a budget debate that could derail the federal government.
Two crypto bills are carrying a lot of the sector’s hopes, because they’ve made it further than any legislation to date: one House bill that would establish rules for digital assets markets and another that would set up regulations for issuing and trading stablecoins in the U.S. Until now, Crypto lobbyists thought that both pieces of legislation had a shot to reach the House floor in November.
The problems: Nov. 17 is the new deadline for a government shutdown, unless Congress can agree to a spending plan it wasn’t able to execute last month. And one of the top voices in that negotiation is the speaker of the House. Republicans dumped the speaker, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), in an unprecedented fashion and are yet to pick a new one.
“Given that there’s such a distraction with everything else going on, it probably means no consideration of crypto bills in the short run,” said Kristin Smith, CEO of the Washington-based Blockchain Association.
It’s possible for lawmakers to work on crypto efforts while also dealing with the bigger budget drama. (Members of the powerful House Financial Services Committee proved that by clearing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) bill while the spending debate raged before last month’s 45-day agreement to postpone the budget deadline.)
But the chairman of the Financial Services Committee that has shepherded a number of crypto-related bills toward the House floor, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), is now the acting speaker. It’s positive for the crypto industry that he really wants to get digital assets legislation approved, and his new role turns up his volume. What’s bad: He’s pretty busy.
New Speaker
When the Republicans pick a permanent leader, McHenry may have some goodwill to spend. So far, Reps. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the House leadership’s current No. 2, and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) – who is backed by former President Donald…
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