‘We Have The Most Pro-Crypto Congress Ever’: Coinbase Policy Chief

The U.S. web3 industry continues to tip that President-elect Donald Trump will roll out crypto-friendly regulations during his second term.

Faryar Shirzad, the chief policy officer at Coinbase, the largest U.S.-based crypto exchange told CNBC that he anticipates crypto regulations will move through Congress “fairly quickly” once Trump returns to the Oval Office in January.

“We have the most pro-crypto Congress ever [in] history, we have an extraordinarily pro-crypto president coming into office,” Shirzad told CNBC last week during an event organized by Stand With Crypto, a web3 advocacy group supported by Coinbase. “I think the combination should finally allow the 50 million Americans who own crypto to have their interests and voice heard in policy.”

Stand With Crypto estimated that nearly 300 pro-crypto lawmakers will enter the House of Representatives and Senate in January.

Key crypto legislation

Shirzad said he is “optimistic” that the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21)and Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act — two key bills dealing with cryptocurrency currently moving through Congress — will quickly pass.

FIT21 was introduced to the House of Representatives in May after receiving approval from the U.S. House Financial Services Committee in July 2023.

The bill would introduce registration and disclosure requirements for digital asset exchanges, brokers, and custodians, establish a joint committee on digital assets between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and designate the CFTC jurisdiction over digital asset spot markets.

FIT21 passed through the House with a vote of 279 to 136, and also passed the Senate with a vote of 60 to 38, signaling bipartisan support for the bill.

The Clarity for Payment Stalbecoins Actwas introduced by Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis and Democratic Senator Kristen Gillibrand in April. The bill would require that stablecoin issuers maintain a one-to-one reserve ratio, prohibit algorithmic stablecoins, and create federal and state regulatory bodies tasked with overseeing the sector.

New positions

Trump’s team is also reportedly planning to create a Whitehouse position tasked withoverseeingthecrypto for the first time.

Chris Giancarlo, believed to be a front-runner for the position, told Fox Business that the crypto czar would be tasked with ensuring Trump’s numerous promises to the crypto industry are realized.

"I do think a crypto czar is critically important, because there's a lot of promises,” Giancarlo said. “You need tax writers to make sure that the moratorium on capital gains taxes on U.S. crypto that he's promised gets done. You're going to need the White House Counsel's Office to write the executive orders to end what they call Chokepoint 2.0 — the de-banking of crypto. You're going to need somebody to run this crypto Council.”

Trump is also expected to follow through with the creation of a crypto advisory council comprising representatives from the web3 industry. Major crypto firms like Ripple, Kraken, Circle, and Coinbase are reportedly lobbying for seats on the council. The council may also include former policymakers and enforcement officials.