Cynthia Lummis Tapped to Lead First-Ever Senate Crypto Subcommittee

Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis is reportedly being tapped to lead a new subcommittee focusing on digital assets.

According to FOX Business, this would be an offshoot of the Senate Banking Committee. It has a new chairman in the form of South Carolina's Tim Scott, who has previously said "crypto has the potential to democratize the financial world."

Scott recently held a meeting with Donald Trump's incoming crypto czar David Sacks, and appeared with Lummis at a panel of the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium last September.

At the time, he had said: "Wouldn't it be kind of cool if we had a subcommittee on the banking committee that focuses on the industry, so that we bring more light to the conversation, more hearings on the industry, so we get things done faster?"

Such a subcommittee already exists in the larger House of Representatives, which is also undergoing a leadership change.

On Thursday, it was announced that Wisconsin's Bryan Steil will chair the House Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Artificial Intelligence—with jurisdiction over crypto, stablecoins and CBDCs.

He succeeds Arkansas congressman French Hill, who in turn becomes chairman of the overarching House Financial Services Committee.

The Stand With Crypto campaign group has given Steil an "A" rating, indicating he strongly supports the digital assets sector, with the congressman previously warning that a lack of regulation risks "pushing opportunities overseas."

After his new position was announced, Steil said: "Innovation in the financial services sector provides an exciting opportunity for consumers and entrepreneurs, as technologies like financial apps, digital assets, and machine learning revolutionize our economy."

The selection of Lummis and Steil to lead these two crypto-focused subcommittees is a sign that Donald Trump looks to capitalize on the Republicans' complete control of the government—especially when it comes to pushing through his pro-Bitcoin promises.

A regular on the crypto conference circuit, Lummis was an early adopter of BTC—and has led calls for the U.S. to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve through her proposed bills in the Senate.

Last July, she unveiled the Boosting Innovation, Technology and Competitiveness through Optimized Investment (BITCOIN) Act, which would require the government to purchase 1 million BTC over a five-year period. Lummis has stressed this $95 billion investment would not be taxpayer funded, and instead use existing funds across the Federal Reserve and the Treasury.

That goes further than what Trump himself has proposed, with the president-elect suggesting that about 200,000 BTC seized by criminals (with a current market value of $19.2 billion) could be converted into such a reserve.

Edited by Stacy Elliott.