Key U.S. Senate Republican Tim Scott Makes Crypto-Fan Debut

U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee who may be in position to be its next chairman, argued at a Bitcoin 2024 appearance on Friday that the government should "make it easy" for the crypto industry to innovate in the U.S.

It's a common refrain from Republican lawmakers these days, but Scott – the direct counterpart of crypto skeptic Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) – had stayed relatively quiet on crypto as that committee became the bottleneck for U.S. legislation.

He broke that reticence with his lively crypto debut at Bitcoin 2024 in Nashville, Tenn., where he shouted the merits of digital assets. Scott could become chairman of that committee, which oversees U.S. financial regulation, if Republicans retake the Senate majority after the November elections.

"We have to get rid of the folks who are in the way," he said, speaking alongside U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), and lambasting Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler as a crypto-policy roadblock. "Chairman Gensler, lord have mercy … Hit the road, Jack, and don't you come back, no more, no more, no more."

Before Friday, Scott, who'd been among those running for the Republican presidential nomination this year, had been relatively quiet on crypto issues, even as Democrats on the committee – such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) – became outspoken critics of the industry. His potential for grabbing the chairman gavel on the Senate Banking panel next year repeatedly came up during his time on stage with Lummis, and he said that if it happened, he'd make sure her legislation gets a prompt vote, "setting bitcoin free here at home."

Lummis has reportedly been pushing recently for a bill that would call for the Federal Reserve to hold some bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset. She didn't get into the topic during her appearance on Friday, though many at the event hope former President Donald Trump mentions that idea when he's set to appear at the conference on Saturday.

"The innovations of Bitcoin are now becoming more clear in the U.S. Senate, and it's also becoming more clear who wants to protect the innovation and who wants to regulate it," Lummis said.

Legislation to regulate crypto has passed in the House of Representatives but is so far languishing in the Senate. Advocates are still hoping something can get through at the end of the year, but the odds remain slim.

As for new crypto legislation at this stage of the congressional session – with the 2024 election looming and the session speeding toward its end – it's unlikely to find sufficient traction to become law, but such efforts can sometimes begin a negotiation for future bills.

The senators took the stage soon after Michael Saylor, executive chairman of software firm MicroStrategy (MSTR), the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, advocated that the U.S. should aim to acquire 4 million BTC to boost its Treasury and build its financial strength. He said only one or two nations will have an opportunity to enjoy what he described as the token's massive future growth to that extent.

"Bitcoin is not the solution to all our problems," Saylor said. "It is the solution to half our problems."

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ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood also praised the notion of a strategic bitcoin reserve for the U.S.

"If they do it in the right way, meaning this is not an instrument of monetary policy at all, but it simply goes on our balance sheet … this could be transformational," she said.

The conference also saw Robert F. Kennedy, the independent presidential candidate who has been a longtime supporter of digital assets, promise to make bitcoin a strategic reserve asset if he's elected president (though polls suggest he remains a long-shot candidate). There had reportedly been last-minute discussions with representatives of Vice President Kamala Harris about attending, but she won't be appearing.