The cryptocurrency industry has a champion set to take the gavel of the House Financial Services Committee in January, the body that is poised to advance its legislative wish list in the next Republican-controlled Congress.
Arkansas Rep. French Hill, the incoming committee chair, edged out his chief rival for the position, Kentucky Rep. Andy Barr, after telling colleagues he would prioritize crypto industry-favored legislation that would provide a regulatory framework for digital assets. Hill also beat out Bill Huizenga (Mich.) and Frank Lucas (Okla.) this month for the nod from the House Republican steering committee, replacing retiring committee Chair Patrick McHenry (N.C.).
Hill is currently the chairman of the Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion. He is one of the original sponsors of the major crypto bill known as FIT21, for Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, that passed the GOP-controlled House in May in a bipartisan vote of 279-136, but was not brought to a vote in the Senate. The industry-supported FIT21 bill treats digital assets that operate on decentralized blockchains as commodities regulated by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), seen as a friendlier agency, while putting other digital assets that are considered securities under the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Hill and McHenry both received a standing ovation from the Blockchain Association Summit held at the InterContinental - The Wharf DC this month, according to Bloomberg.
On his priorities as chair, Hill told CNBC recently, “We need a market structure for digital assets,” and said that House GOP leaders were on board with passing legislation addressing stablecoins in the first 100 days.
Ron Hammond, director of government relations at the Blockchain Association, told The Block that under incoming chairman Hill, “We will see a reintroduction of a lot of bills that we are very, very familiar with.”
This cycle, Coinbase was the fifth-largest donor to Hill’s campaign and leadership PAC, according to OpenSecrets, with the company’s employees and PAC combining for $48,000 contributed. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong gave nearly $12,000 of that amount this cycle. Coinbase lobbyist Kara Calvert Campbell, a vice president of U.S. policy for the company, gave Hill’s committees more than $8,000. The company’s employees had not donated to Hill during the previous two cycles, according to Federal Election Commission records. Also, the two co-founders and employees of major crypto investor Andreessen Horowitz donated $32,500 to Hill this cycle.
Hill was the top House candidate recipient of Coinbase donations in the 2024 cycle, according to OpenSecrets’ tally.
