Crypto-friendly Arkansas Representative French Hill, currently the chair of a digital asset subcommittee, will take over leadership of the United States House Financial Services Committee in next year’s new Congress.
“I am humbled that my colleagues have placed their trust in me to lead the House Financial Services Committee as their next Chairman,” Hill said in a Dec. 12 statement.
He added he looked forward to working “in tandem with President Trump and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott to bring common-sense economic policies that will produce a new era of American prosperity.”
Like the House finance committee, the Senate Banking Committee is another crucial Congressional group for crypto and blockchain policy.
In July, Scott said he would support pro-crypto legislation and floated the idea of creating a subcommittee focused on crypto if he chaired the banking committee.
Hill beat peer Republican challengers Andy Barr, Frank Lucas, and Bill Huizenga in a decision at the party’s steering committee and will take the gavel from current Chair Patrick McHenry on Jan. 3, 2025, when the 119th Congress begins.
House Republicans must still ratify Hill’s selection in a full conference vote before it is official.
Source: French Hill
The House Financial Services Committee oversees and shapes policy for the entire financial services industry along with overseeing crucial regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury.
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Hill formerly chaired the committee’s digital assets subcommittee and now takes over from the staunchly pro-crypto McHenry, who announced in December 2023 that he wouldn’t seek reelection after 20 years in office.
In October, Hill said he was “optimistic” that a crypto regulation bill and a stablecoin bill could move forward in Congress before the end of the year — but he and Scott now hold more sway to push them through in 2025 if that doesn’t happen.
The House passed the crypto regulatory-defining Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21) in May, but it stalled in the Senate banking committee, which Scott will now chair.
A House-originated stablecoin regulatory framework bill has also stalled after passing the Financial Services Committee in July 2023.
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Update (Dec. 12, 11:05 pm UTC): This article has been updated to add information throughout.
Additional reporting by Jesse Coghlan.