Crypto community hopeful about new Senate leader John Thune

The cryptocurrency industry has high hopes for regulatory clarity in the United States as the Republican Party elected Senator John Thune of South Dakota as the new Senate majority leader.

Thune won the Senate majority leader race on Nov. 13, defeating the Elon Musk-endorsed Senator Rick Scott of Florida.

“We will work to make America prosperous again by streamlining the bureaucratic machine and overturning costly Biden-Harris regulations,” Thune stated in a speech after winning.

As Thune expressed his readiness to work on implementing the agenda of pro-crypto President-elect Donald Trump, the community is hopeful about the new Senate leader’s contribution to crypto-friendly regulations in the US.

Thune supported a bill to expand CFTC’s jurisdiction over crypto

The crypto community has reason to believe Thune may champion crypto-friendly policies. Thune has previously advocated for expanding the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) jurisdiction over cryptocurrency regulation, positioning it as an alternative to the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s approach.

In 2022, Thune co-sponsored a crypto bill called the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act (DCCPA), which aimed to extend CFTC’s regulatory powers over crypto regulation.

The bill specifically referred to major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) as digital commodities, highlighting CFTC as competent authority over their regulation and hinting at the SEC’s crypto regulation overreach.

Some crypto advocates referred to the bill as a “pivotal step” to achieving regulatory clarity in crypto but admitted it needed further work and clarifications.

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In May, Thune also voted for a measure to overturn the US SEC’s Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121 (SAB 11), which requires crypto custodians to record customer assets as liabilities on their balance sheets.

New Senate majority leader “strongly supports crypto”

Thune’s stance on this rule has been highlighted by Coinbase’s lobbying group, Stand With Crypto, which describes him as a “strong crypto supporter.”.

“He is very pro-crypto,” Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terrett said in a post on X on Nov. 13.

Although Thune expressed strong support for Trump’s priorities, the President-elect did not endorse a candidate in the contest for majority leader, according to CNBC. Thune also previously criticized Trump in the 2016 presidential race.

On the other hand, a wide number of Trump’s allies — including Tesla CEO Musk, conservative commentator Tucker Carlson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — endorsed Florida’s Scott in the Senate majority leader race.

Scott previously worked with pro-Bitcoin Senator Cynthia Lummis to introduce a bill to allow US retirement plans to include exposure to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

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