by Coinstrooper Crypto Articles
Quick Take
  • Crypto spent $195.8 million in 2024 to win a friendlier US Congress.
  • On Tuesday, voters handed both chambers to Democrats, and the man the industry spent $40 million to defeat is coming back.
  • Bitcoin holders, crypto stock investors, and every exchange operating in America are waiting on one thing.
  • It is a federal law that says who regulates crypto, and the odds of getting it just fell.

What Happened

That reaches well beyond crypto wallets. Bitcoin holders, crypto stock investors, and every exchange operating in America are waiting on one thing. It is a federal law that says who regulates crypto, and the odds of getting it just fell.

6. Exchanges face tougher questions after Binance hack.

Waters cited reports that Binance lost about $6.3 billion in a hack last week, in an October 30 statement.

Market Context

The bill would decide which regulator polices crypto tokens and trading platforms. The House passed it 294–134 in July 2025.

Why It Matters

The fights were over ethics limits on officials’ crypto holdings. They were also over yield on stablecoins, the tokens pegged to the dollar. Banks worry that yield could pull deposits away from them.

Crypto traders feared a Democratic sweep for exactly this reason before polls closed. Mary Cull of Cryptex Finance told American Banker that a Democratic Senate could complicate the bill.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is likely to chair the Senate Banking Committee, American Banker reported. Rep. Maxine Waters is in line to run the House Financial Services Committee.

Bart Naylor of consumer group Public Citizen expects Democrats to go after Trump’s crypto ventures, possibly with subpoenas. Congress has already examined World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s crypto company.

Details

Crypto spent $195.8 million in 2024 to win a friendlier US Congress. On Tuesday, voters handed both chambers to Democrats, and the man the industry spent $40 million to defeat is coming back.

Why Is Crypto’s Wish List Now Harder to Pass?

1. Every crypto bill now needs Democrats.

Democrats took Republican-held Senate seats in Texas, Kansas, Iowa, and Ohio, according to PBS. The new Congress takes its seats in January.

Ohio is the one crypto will feel. Sherrod Brown, a former Senate Banking Committee chair and long-time industry critic, won back a seat. Two years ago, the crypto industry spent $40 million on ads attacking him, and he lost.

2. The CLARITY Act was already on life support.

Then it hit the Senate. A procedural vote failed 49–50 on September 15, short of the 60 needed, according to law firm Orrick. That happened with Republicans in charge.

3. Without a law, the rules stay temporary.

Today, crypto mostly runs on rules written by agencies. A new administration can rewrite those. A law is far harder to undo, which is why companies wanted one.

“In this administration, I think that crypto has been the darling,” the American Banker reported, citing Cull.

Who Controls Crypto’s Fate From January?

4. Two of crypto’s sharpest critics get the gavels.

Those two committees decide which crypto bills get a hearing at all. They can also call executives to testify under oath.

5. Trump’s crypto empire becomes a target.

“Democratic control also brings subpoena power and scrutiny of Trump linked crypto businesses, plus influence over confirmation of future nominees to regulatory posts,” noted one user on X.

She also noted that Binance founder Changpeng Zhao put over $2 billion into World Liberty Financial before Trump pardoned him.