Senate Banking Committee

Key Insights

• The Senate Banking Committee has jurisdiction over key crypto policy matters and federal agencies, including market structure, stablecoins, the SEC, and federal banking regulators.
• To date, Senate Banking Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Democrat committee members have been more focused on addressing illicit finance concerns than enacting clear rules of the road for crypto market participants or stablecoin issuers.
• Senate Banking has advanced legislation championed by Chairman Brown that includes a section aimed at prohibiting regulators from unbanking politically disfavored companies without a valid reason. Ostensibly, the legislation may protect crypto firms from Operation Chokepoint 2.0 concerns, but due to the provision’s loose language, it is unclear how effective this section would be in practice.

Senator Brown is in a tough reelection race. If he loses his election in 2024 and Republicans take control of the Senate, pro-crypto legislation would likely face a much easier path to becoming law.

Jurisdiction

The Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee (“Senate Banking”) is the Senate counterpart to the House Financial Services Committee. The committee’s jurisdiction spans banks, financial institutions, the economy, federal monetary policy, housing, and urban development.