Pro-bitcoiner Cynthia Lummis assigned to Senate Banking Committee

The Senate has assigned pro-bitcoin senator Cynthia Lummis to the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.

Marking a major win for the crypto community, Lummis detailed her intention to educate fellow senators on the technology: “Through my role on the Banking Committee, I hope to shine a light on many of these pioneering efforts and work with federal regulators to ensure that regulation of digital assets are structured to encourage innovation, instead of stifling it,” she said about her appointment. “I also look forward to providing regulatory relief to our community banks and ensuring that we have vibrant, safe financial markets.”

Appearing on Anthony Pompliano’s podcast last week, Lummis announced plans to form a financial innovation caucus in the Senate to promote a “proper understanding and responsible regulation of things like digital assets and emerging financial technologies.”

She also called bitcoin a better store of value for consumers and labelled it a potential hedge against the dollar. Excitingly, Lummis is the first sitting senator to (publically) hold the asset.

The caucus hopes to counter arguments that cryptocurrencies are primarily a money-laundering tool in order to highlight opportunities for innovation in the US. She told the Pomp Podcast that she’d already had a call with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and said she believes the Treasury Secretary has an open mind around digital assets – which in line with Yellen’s comments about crypto in her written testimony for her Senate confirmation.

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