Crypto excluded from Schumer’s legislative priorities after assurances

Cryptocurrency was left out of the latest bipartisan agenda in Senator Chuck Schumer’s “Dear Colleague” letter, despite his earlier promise to make it a priority this year.

Fox News correspondent Eleanor Terrett noted that Schumer listed several legislative priorities in his recent letter to Senate colleagues, including rail safety, insulin prices and artificial intelligence, but left crypto off the table.

🚨NEW: @SenSchumer He sent a letter to his Senate colleagues outlining priorities for passing bipartisan legislation in the remaining months of Congress. Cryptocurrency legislation was not mentioned, but artificial intelligence was mentioned.

This is despite his determination on this issue… pic.twitter.com/d0io7iWh75

— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) September 8, 2024

The move comes after Schumer made comments at his “Crypto4Harris” town hall, where he said it was possible to pass a bipartisan crypto regulation bill by the end of the year. The event, organized by supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris, was aimed at influencing the crypto community ahead of the November elections.

Schumer said in his speech that the US cannot “sit on the sidelines” and risk “cryptocurrencies going overseas”, adding:

“My goal is to get something passed in the Senate by the end of the year and signed into law, and I believe we can do that. We have to strike a balance between encouraging innovation for crypto and providing common-sense safeguards.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks at the Crypto4Harris virtual meeting room

At the time, Florida Congressman Darren Soto also called on Harris to take decisive action on crypto policy.

The letter, citing the lack of cryptocurrency, has drawn criticism from some members of the decentralized community, who have expressed frustration with what they perceive as a lack of real commitment to cryptocurrency issues by the Biden-Harris administration.

One user on X noted that the Vice President has “not said a word” about cryptocurrency, adding that recent actions by his “colleagues” do not reflect a supportive stance. Another user accused the Biden-Harris administration of using cryptocurrency-related events for political donations without any intention of meaningful engagement.

Even with cryptocurrencies on the back burner, Harris’ campaign is still accepting crypto donations through Coinbase, but its official website makes no mention of digital assets, cryptocurrency or blockchain, which is consistent with the Biden administration’s generally cautious approach to the topic.

Harris has received support from some big-name pro-crypto Democrats, including billionaire Mark Cuban and Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, both key players in the “Crypto4Harris” campaign. Still, Polymarket has struggled to keep its energy alive among its users, where the odds appear to be in favor of Republican opponent Donald Trump.