U.S Lawmakers Tom Emmer Ritchie Torres Team Up for Crypto Caucus

House Republican Tom Emmer and Democrat Ritchie Torres are working together to launch a Congressional Crypto Caucus, a bipartisan group that will focus on supporting digital assets policies in the House of Representatives.

This is different from the Congressional Blockchain Caucus that was formed some years ago in 2017. This new caucus will serve as a voting bloc to push for legislation that is amenable to cryptocurrencies.

According to Emmer, the caucus was created because millions of voters in last year’s November election supported candidates who wanted to push forward with crypto policies. 

“This Caucus serves as an ideologically unified, nonpartisan group of members that can quickly mobilize to support key digital asset initiatives in Congress,” he said in an interview with Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett. “We will continue to work to ensure the United States remains the best place in the world to build and innovate in the next iteration of the internet.”

Torres also explained that the goal of the group is to ensure that the United States remains a leader in blockchain technology and to promote innovation.

Meanwhile, Congress is rushing to develop rules for the crypto industry. Former President Donald Trump has made it clear that he wants U.S. to be the “crypto capital of the planet”, therefore increasing the urgency for lawmakers to act.

Right now, two stablecoin bills are under review by the House of Representatives, with some leaders in the crypto space actively providing their input.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, the GENIUS Act, a stablecoin bill introduced by Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty, is expected to be discussed next week by the Banking Committee.

Senator Tim Scott, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, has set a goal to have stablecoin and market structure bills passed and signed into law by April 2025. However, it’s unclear if there will be enough support from both political parties to make this happen.