If crypto goes back to the congressional drawing board, 3 Democrat women loom large

“I voted against the GENIUS and Clarity acts because they fail to adequately address abuse and instead open the door to corruption,” she said last year. “At a time when the current occupant of the Oval Office is personally benefiting from crypto and memecoin ventures, these bills do nothing to close conflict-of-interest loopholes.”

But if Waters and Brown are running the crypto show in the House, the White House will still have its same occupant. Even if the Democrats win a stronger majority than the narrow GOP advantage of the past two years, the next session could become a mess of go-nowhere, message-sending bills. If the party won the Senate majority, too, that wouldn’t help assure Democrats an ability to get legislation converted to law.

On the Senate side, Senator Warren has been among the crypto industry’s most prominent Capitol Hill detractors, trying to keep a steady spotlight on what she’s portrayed as the president’s crypto corruption. However, under her time as the ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, she watched her fellow Democrats go against her on crypto matters, gathering for negotiations on the legislation she opposed.

She may have more sway were she to lead the committee and control the advancement of her members’ bills. If she were to follow in the footsteps of the most recent Democrat who ran the banking panel, former Senator Sherrod Brown, she could go for years without allowing a crypto measure through the gate. (Brown, who was defeated by Republican crypto advocate Senator Bernie Moreno two years ago with the help of a massive $40 million crypto PAC boost, is also running again for the other Ohio Senate seat.)