In the News

Boozman, Hill help launch digital assets working group

Alex Thomas
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
February 4, 2025

WASHINGTON -- Two members of Arkansas' congressional delegation joined colleagues and the White House's top cryptocurrency advisor on Tuesday to announce the formation of a bicameral working group focused on passing digital asset legislation.

Through the body, leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives hope to create regulations for digital assets -- such as cryptocurrencies -- and stablecoins. The formation of the working group follows President Donald Trump's Jan. 23 executive order establishing a separate group to study digital asset markets and a possible regulatory framework.

"We don't want to be behind in financial technology and digital assets in the United States," Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., told reporters. "They need to know what the rules of the road are."

Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., joined Hill, of Little Rock; Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.; Rep. GT Thompson, R-Pa.; and White House artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency czar David Sacks in announcing the formation of the working group.

All four lawmakers serve as committee chairs. Boozman, of Rogers, and Hill started their respective tenures in January as leaders of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee and the House Financial Services Committee. Thompson presides over the House Agriculture Committee and Scott leads the Senate Banking Committee.

"It will allow the industry itself -- because it is regulated, people can have confidence in that -- to grow," he said.

Thompson framed the working group as a matter of fostering innovation.

"The opportunities are just really unimaginable," he said. "What I believe is that whatever is over the horizon is going to be very, very exciting."

Members of Congress have previously put forward legislation addressing digital assets and stablecoins, which are cryptocurrencies with values tied to stable assets like the U.S. dollar. The House passed a Hill-led measure last May establishing regulatory criteria for digital assets and clarifying oversight over these items, but the Senate never considered the legislation.

Ahead of Tuesday's press conference, Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., reintroduced legislation creating a regulatory framework for stablecoins. Scott, New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand and Wyoming Republican Cynthia Lummis are cosponsoring Hagerty's bill.

"Financial assets are destined to become digital just like every analog industry has become digital, and we want that value creation to happen in the United States rather than giving it away to other countries," Sacks said.

Hill, a former banker, led the House Financial Services Committee's subcommittee on digital assets in the previous Congress. He said his digital assets bill -- the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act -- provides "the basics" for the measure that the current Congress may consider.

"There may be some modest changes," he noted.

All four committees have jurisdiction over matters involving commodities and securities, including digital assets.

"We've all been working separately. We've made progress over the last several years," Boozman explained. "We're looking forward to actually getting some things accomplished over the next several months."

Boozman said work within both legislative chambers on creating a regulatory environment has been ongoing for the last three years. The senator additionally acknowledged that overall interest in cryptocurrencies and digital assets was negatively impacted by the collapse of the FTX exchange in November 2022

The appeal, according to Boozman, has since rebounded and is "bigger than ever."

With this interest, Boozman stressed Congress should approve regulations protecting investors and creating a competitive environment among financial institutions. FTX, at the time of its collapse, was registered in the Bahamas, meaning U.S. regulators could only watch with consumers facing tremendous losses.