John Thune was elected leader of the Senate majority. His pro-crypto stance comes as more good news for the crypto community since the Trump victory.
Senator John Thune of South Dakota was voted by the Republicans as the new Senate majority leader. His election into this position has come as good news to the crypto community, considering his positive crypto stance and willingness to back Trump with the president-elect’s agenda, as he mentioned on X.
Thune secured the victory on November 13 as he beat Senator Rick Scott of Florida. Scott, who was endorsed by Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson, and Robert F Kennedy Jr, worked with Cynthia Lummis to bring a bill that altered retirement plans to include cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
Still, his loss may not be as bad to the crypto industry as Thune is pro-crypto. Coinbase-launched lobbying group Stand With Crypto indicates that he “strongly supports crypto.”
Trump did not endorse any of the candidates. However, Thune’s first speech since his securing the seat indicates he is in tune with Trump’s and the Republican Party’s goals. “We will work to make America prosperous again by streamlining the bureaucratic machine and overturning costly Biden-Harris regulations,” said the Senate majority leader.
In an X post sharing the speech, he wrote, “Republicans have a mandate from the American people to clean up the mess left by the Biden-Harris-Schumer agenda and to deliver on President Trump’s priorities — our work starts today.”
Thune Has Previously Acted in Favor of the Crypto Industry
The Senator has also tried to expand the Commodities Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) purview over crypto, trying to weaken the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) powers over the market. It is no secret that the SEC has actively stifled crypto innovation.
Thune did so by co-sponsoring the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act (DCCPA) bill. That bill mentioned major digital assets like bitcoin and Ether as commodities, thus making the CFTC the right agency to deal with the assets and services offered around them. While it was a step in the right direction, many have iterated that it needs more work and clarification to bring the needed change.
Thune also voted in favor of overturning the SEC’s Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 121. The bulleting requires digital asset service providers and financial enterprises to record crypto deposits as liabilities on their balance sheets. While SAB-121 was overturned, Joe Biden vetoed the decision to let the SEC have its way.
