U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren Rises Into Role Where Crypto Sector Won't Shake Her

Policy Election 2024 U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren Rises Into Role Where Crypto Sector Won't Shake Her Warren will be the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee that crypto legislation must clear – the most senior role for the opposition party on digital assets matters. By Jesse Hamilton Nov 13, 2024 at 4:40 p.m. UTC Updated Nov 13, 2024 at 4:42 p.m. UTC Election 2024 coverage presented by Stand with crypto Senator Elizabeth Warren, Congress' most dedicated critic of the crypto sector, will have a prominent role with crypto legislation. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Senator Elizabeth Warren, one of the chief U.S. critics of the crypto industry, confirmed she'd be taking the role as the most senior Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee. That panel will be responsible for handling crypto legislation in the coming months. If Democrats can manage to wrest back Senate control in two years, she could become the committee's next chairwoman. U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has long been held up as the crypto industry's chief opponent in Congress, and she's now ascending to the role as the top Democrat in the Senate Banking Committee, where she'll be heard from on the digital assets legislation that likely needs a sign-off from that panel. Unmute DOGE Ascends Over 100% in Past Week, Traders Set $1 Price Target 02:47 Bitcoin Nears $90K; FTX Sues Binance, CZ For $1.8B 17:55 Are Memecoins Driving This Bull Cycle? 01:14 Record $1.38B U.S. Bitcoin ETF Inflows on Trump Win, Fed Rate Cut 02:38 'High Likelihood' Cardano Founder Charles Hoskinson Will Become Trump's Crypto Advisor The Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee has been under the chairmanship of Sherrod Brown, the Ohio Democrat that the cryptocurrency industry spent tens of millions of dollars on defeating in this month's elections. In his tenure, Brown allowed no significant legislative debate on digital assets legislation, though even as he ran the committee, Massachusetts Democrat Warren often managed to be the more prominent naysayer on crypto matters. Now that the Republicans won the Senate majority and will take the gavel, Warren confirmed she'll step up as the ranking Democrat there. "This new role means a better chance to advance solutions like building more housing to lower prices and protecting consumers from private equity greed and special interest scams," she said in a Wednesday statement . While the Republicans will control the committee's agenda and hearing schedule, she'll have a prominent platform to criticize the group's work on crypto, which she has often argued is riddled with criminality and has introduced legislation to try to apply tight U.S. constraints on the sector. Warren just won a third term in office, opposed by a prominent crypto lawyer, John Deaton , who only managed to secure 40% of the vote. Control of the Senate could possibly change hands again in two years. In midterm elections, the sitting president's party usually experiences setbacks in its Senate strength, and the 2026 contest will see far more Republicans' seats up for grabs than Democrats' seats. If Democrats do reclaim the majority, Warren would likely become the chair of the committee, where she would set the direction and tone for crypto legislation past that point. Read More: Crypto PACs Dominate Ohio Senate Race, Spending $40M on Sherrod Brown's Foe Edited by Nikhilesh De. Disclosure Please note that our privacy policy , terms of use , cookies , and do not sell my personal information have been updated . CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies . CoinDesk has adopted a set of principles aimed at ensuring the integrity, editorial independence and freedom from bias of its publications. CoinDesk is part of the Bullish group, which owns and invests in digital asset businesses and digital assets. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive Bullish group equity-based compensation. Bullish was incubated by technology investor Block.one. Jesse Hamilton Jesse Hamilton is CoinDesk's deputy managing editor for global policy and regulation. He doesn't hold any crypto. Follow @ jesseahamilton on Twitter Read more about Regulations Senate Banking Committee Elizabeth Warren Legislation Election 2024