Pro-crypto Republican French Hill will lead the U.S. House Financial Services Committee Chair role. This development is particularly significant, as the new year might see the introduction of many important cryptocurrency bills.
????NEW: Arkansas Congressman @RepFrenchHill will be the next Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, taking the place of outgoing chair @PatrickMcHenry who is retiring from Congress.
Rep. Hill is very pro-#crypto and says the next Congress will review and investigate… pic.twitter.com/8npG2XUzzX
— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) December 12, 2024
As per the official announcement, Hill won the Chair position on Thursday afternoon, defeating a competitive list of other pro-crypto candidates, including Republicans Andy Barr of Kentucky, Bill Huizenga of Michigan, and Frank Lucas of Oklahoma.
I am humbled that my colleagues have placed their trust in me to lead @FinancialCmte as their next Chairman. It was a privilege to join my exceptional colleagues, @RepAndyBarr, @RepHuizenga, and @RepFrankLucas, in sharing our visions for this committee. https://t.co/7XNgGrLRJy
— French Hill (@RepFrenchHill) December 12, 2024
Currently, French Hill leads the committee’s digital asset-focused department and has worked on passing crypto bills, including one to regulate stablecoins and another overseeing market structure.
Weeks ago, several crypto executives had complained of debanking, which has become a priority for Hill. Earlier this month, Hill voiced concerns about debanking in the crypto industry at a hearing and shared plans to address the issue in 2025. Hill said during that hearing, “Legal businesses in the United States, in this great country, should have the freedom to bank and have financial services. We’ve seen this over and over again.”
The current House Financial Services Committee Chair, Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), a crypto-friendly leader, announced his retirement last year. McHenry led significant crypto policy efforts, passing a stablecoin regulation-focused bill for monitoring stablecoins at the federal level and a bill focusing on crypto’s market structure called FIT21. McHenry chaired his last hearing on December 4.
Andy Barr, Bill Huizenga, Frank Lucas, and French Hill also voted for FIT21 and to repeal the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s staff accounting bulletin called SAB 121. However, the bill seeking to overturn SAB 121 was vetoed by current President Joe Biden.
SAB 121 has drawn significant scrutiny from industry experts as it could prevent banks from protecting digital assets. It mandates companies that custody crypto to show customer crypto holdings as liabilities on their balance sheets.
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