US lawmakers form working group between House and Senate to draft bills for crypto, stablecoins

U.S. lawmakers are forming a working group, including key members from committees in the House and Senate, to work on a regulatory framework for digital assets and stablecoins.

During a press conference on Tuesday, White House A.I. and Crypto Czar David Sacks, alongside Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman (R-Ark.), House Financial Services Committee Chair French Hill (R-Ark.) and House Agriculture Committee Chair G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.) announced the creation of that bicameral group.

Work is already underway in the Senate to regulate stablecoins. Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) introduced a bill on Tuesday to create a regulatory framework, including setting parameters for whether issuers will be regulated by the federal government or states. A future stablecoin bill will be "very similar" to the Senate's approach, Hill said.

Lawmakers in the House have been working to pass a stablecoin bill for years. Now retired former House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., had been working with top Democrat Maxine Waters, D-Calif, to create a regulatory framework for stablecoins since 2022. A sticking point for that bill was a provision that allows state regulators to approve stablecoin issuances without Federal Reserve input.

McHenry also previously led efforts to help the House pass a bill called the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, dubbed FIT21. The bill would grant more power and funding to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to oversee crypto spot markets and "digital commodities," particularly bitcoin and sets parameters for the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A future market structure bill to regulate crypto as a whole will be similar to FIT21, Hill said on Tuesday during the press conference, noting its bipartisan support.

"That bill, I think, had the basics for the exact bill that we'll propose to introduce again in the 119th Congress," Hill said. "There may be some modest changes, but it had bipartisan support."

The Trump administration has taken a friendly approach to crypto. Ahead of the elections, President Donald Trump said in August he would help "ensure that the United States will be the crypto capital of the planet." He has also appointed a crypto-friendly former regulator Paul Atkins to lead the SEC.

Trump also tapped Sacks as Crypto Czar, who will lead a working group tasked with developing a federal regulatory framework for digital assets, including stablecoins and work to evaluate the creation of a "strategic national digital assets stockpile." Those members will include top officials including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and chairs for the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.