Republican control of Senate would benefit digital assets, says Sen. Lummis

A U.S. Senate flip from Democrat to Republican-controlled would bode well for digital assets, said Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis in an interview with CNBC. 

One of the most influential committees for digital assets has been the Senate Banking Committee, which is currently helmed by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. Brown has been critical of crypto and has said crypto platforms too often do not use the "same common-sense protections," such as know your customer rules, that keep illicit finance out. 

The top Republican of that committee, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, would likely become chair if the Senate flips. Scott has been friendly toward crypto and previously proposed to create a subcommittee focused on digital assets if he were to become chair. 

"I think what's going to be better for digital assets is if the Senate is Republican," Lummis said on CNBC on Friday morning. "That's definitely true because Tim Scott will chair the banking committee, and he's much more interested in seeing a statutory framework for digital assets than is the current chairman, Sherrod Brown." 

According to a forecast model from news site The Hill , Republicans have a 67% chance of taking the Senate, while the House is a toss-up. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been working on bills to regulate digital assets, including one to regulate stablecoins and another focused on market structure. 

Some lawmakers have taken issue with how U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler has regulated the crypto industry and say the rules are not clear for the industry, while others say the SEC is doing its job to protect investors. Meanwhile, the SEC has brought a number of enforcement actions against crypto firms, including Binance, Coinbase and Kraken, that are making their way through the courts. 

Congress should regulate crypto, Lummis said on Friday. 

"Some of the problem has been that the SEC has said, well we have all the tools we need to regulate it, but the way they've applied them has brought about court cases," Lummis said. "Instead of regulating by making clear rules of the road for the industry, they're regulating by enforcement action."