Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sets goal to pass crypto legislation by the end of this year

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says he intends to pass legislation to regulate crypto by the end of this year. 

Congress holds the responsibility to "provide common sense and sound regulation," the New York Democrat said at a Crypto4Harris town hall on Wednesday night. 

"My goal is to get something passed out of the Senate and into law by the end of the year, and I believe we can make that happen," Schumer said. "I think we should strike a balance for crypto between promoting innovation and providing common sense guardrails." 

Lawmakers in Washington are working on a number of bills to regulate crypto, but have yet to go in front of President Joe Biden's desk. In the Senate, lawmakers are working on bills to regulate the crypto industry. Sens. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., introduced a bill in April that would block algorithmic stablecoins while creating a framework for stablecoins. Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., is also working on a bill to regulate crypto, which is expected to be picked back up in September. 

On the House side, lawmakers passed a Republican-led crypto market structure bill in May that gives new jurisdiction to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission over "digital commodities" and asserts the Securities and Exchange Commission would oversee digital assets offered as part of an investment contract. Seventy-one Democrats voted in support of the bill, including former Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California. Work has also been underway on a bill to regulate stablecoins. 

Schumer pointed to his past work in getting bipartisan bills passed. Crypto legislation should have guardrails that prevent technology from being manipulated while also pushing for innovation. Lawmakers in Washington can't "stick our heads in the sand and do nothing" and "cannot afford to continue to sit on the sidelines," he said. 

"Sadly, there are a lot of members in Congress nowadays who built their political brands around creating spectacle and sensationalism instead of putting in the hard work of legislation," Schumer said. "Nonetheless, passing legislation this year is absolutely possible, even in these divided times. I know it because I've done it over and over again as Majority Leader."

"Crypto is here to stay no matter what so Congress must get it right," Schumer added.

Harris v. Trump

Crypto4Harris, which has a page on X, describes itself as a "grassroots network of crypto advocates organizing, fundraising and developing a nuanced crypto-policy approach for the Harris For President campaign." Organizing the effort started a few weeks ago. 

Crypto has asserted itself into the upcoming election season with millions of dollars flooding into super political action committees and presidential candidate Donald Trump telling voters he would end an "unlawful and un-American crackdown" on the U.S. crypto industry. The former president has also made inroads with the industry by selecting crypto-friendly J.D. Vance as his running mate and promised in June to advocate for bitcoin miners. 

Meanwhile, candidate Harris has begun reaching out to the crypto industry and says they want to learn more about crypto, a source who spoke with a member of her campaign team has said. Harris has not yet taken a public position on crypto.