Former Rep. Patrick McHenry predicts a 'wicked hot summer' for crypto legislation

Former Republican chair of an influential House committee, Patrick McHenry, is predicting "a wicked hot summer of legislation for crypto" as lawmakers quickly try to get bills to President Donald Trump by August.

Both leaders on Capitol Hill and leaders in the White House want to put laws in place for digital assets, McHenry said Tuesday in an interview with Bloomberg's Sonali Basak as part of a webinar hosted by the Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy at Georgetown University.

"It's go time for digital asset policy," said McHenry, who was the former chair of the House Financial Services Committee from 2023 to the beginning of 2025. "This is going to be a wicked hot summer of legislation."

Since leaving Congress, McHenry has taken on advisory positions at Ondo Finance and a16z.

This week, lawmakers came back from their respective states after a two-week-long recess and could hit the ground running to pass bills to regulate stablecoins and another focused on market structure. Lawmakers have said Trump wants both bills on his desk as soon as possible. The House Financial Services Committee has scheduled a hearing next week focused on digital assets following other hearings that have focused on crypto and stablecoins.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader John Thune privately told Republicans on Tuesday that the Senate plans to vote on stablecoin legislation before Memorial Day, Politico reported, citing a person with direct knowledge.

Both the House Financial Services Committee and Senate Banking Committee have advanced bills to regulate stablecoins, but have differences such as how foreign issuers, like Tether, will be regulated. Lawmakers are also working on a market structure bill, which is being viewed by some as "linked" to the stablecoin bill.

Former Commodities Futures Trading Commissioner Chair Rostin Behnam, who was also interviewed during the webinar, said there was an "impetus" during the previous Congress to get a stablecoin bill passed due to stablecoins' reserves mostly being held in U.S. Treasuries.

"From a U.S. financial regulatory standpoint — that's a red flag," Behnam said, adding that passing a stablecoin bill is "simpler" than getting a market structure type bill to the finish line.