Lawmakers scramble to find a deal

Senate to begin voting on crypto bill Thursday as lawmakers scramble to find a deal

Republican backers of the bill are working to win over a group of key Democrats and answer growing GOP concerns.

Jasper Goodman

The Senate is set to begin considering landmark cryptocurrency legislation on Thursday, setting the upper chamber on a course to hold its first-ever vote on a digital assets regulatory overhaul.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) filed cloture on the bill, led by Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Tuesday evening, which tees the legislation up for a key procedural vote on Thursday that will require bipartisan support.

The move comes as the GOP backers of the bill are scrambling to win over a group of key Democrats who said over the weekend they would not support the most recent version of the legislation.

It “sounds like they’re getting close to recovering the momentum,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.).

Staffers have been meeting behind the scenes to try to come to an agreement on language that would be able to clear the 60-vote threshold required for it to advance on Thursday. The legislation in question would create the first-ever U.S. regulatory framework for digital tokens known as stablecoins that are pegged to the value of the dollar.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), a leading GOP crypto proponent who co-sponsors the stablecoin bill, said Republicans are going to meet “soon” with the key Democratic holdouts.

The Wyoming Republican met Tuesday with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who urged Democrats last week not to commit to supporting the bill in order to force changes.

“I think he sincerely wants to get something done,” Lummis said of Schumer Tuesday. “I think he’s still of a mind to get something done. So we’re going to just keep working on it.”

Republicans are also facing obstacles with some of their own members.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Tuesday he is leaning against backing the legislation, saying the regulations it would impose are unnecessary and could prove to be harmful to the crypto industry in the long run.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) is also a maybe. He said Tuesday he is “not a big fan of big tech issuing their own stablecoin,” which could be allowed under the legislation. Opponents of the bill have raised concerns that it would allow major tech and commercial firms to get into financial services.

And Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), who voted for the stablecoin bill when it cleared the Senate Banking Committee in March, said he can’t commit to supporting the legislation on the floor until he sees what the final text looks like.

“It’s changed a lot, and they’re making deals all over hell and half of Georgia,” he said. “Until I understand what those deals are and how the bill has changed, I’m not on board.”