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The week ending July 18 was dubbed “Crypto Week” by Republicans in the U.S. House intent on passing three bills sought by the private digital currency lobby.
The bills establish financial standards to both help the crypto industry get the federal regulator it prefers, while also setting legitimacy-enhancing terms for backing “stablecoin,” a kind of crypto backed by predictable assets like cash reserves.
Crypto has done well in the “D.C. swamp.” President Donald Trump has his own meme coin, a type of highly speculative currency sometimes with a celebrity hook, in this case Trump, to drive public interest. Trump’s crypto assets are valued at more than $7 billion, The New York Times recently reported.
Crypto’s political clout has surged in recent years. Crypto industry super PACs that didn’t exist four years ago pumped money into the federal elections in 2024. That included $509,959 spent by the $60 million super PAC “Defend American Jobs” in support of now-Montana U.S. Rep. Troy Downing.
Crypto assets have turned up on financial disclosure forms for some Montana’s federal delegation for about four years.
Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Montana, disclosed having between $100,001 and $250,000 in a bitcoin investment fund as part of his 2023 candidate income disclosure forms, the most recent documentation available. In May, Sheehy was granted an extension by the Senate Ethics Committee for filing his 2024 report, which isn’t due until Aug. 13.
Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, reported cryptocurrency holdings from 2021 through 2023. The years coincide with crypto’s rise in influence at a time when Daines served on the Senate Banking Committee. His annual disclosure report for 2024 shows no crypto holdings. In 2021 Daines had crypto holdings valued between $4,000 and $60,000. By 2023, the senator was selling seven different crypto investments estimated to be worth as much as $105,000.
Former U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, who also served on the Senate Banking Committee, said cryptocurrencies “didn’t pass the smell test,” and that Congress passing regulations for crypto would give it a false sense of legitimacy in the eyes of consumers. There was no cryptocurrency in Tester’s financials over several years of disclosures. Tester’s remarks, made on “Meet The Press” in December 2022, alarmed the crypto industry.
Both Downing and western Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke received extensions for filing their 2024 annual reports. Downing’s report, now posted, shows no crypto investments.
Downing, speaking on NewsNation on July 17, said the goal is to regulate non-government digital currencies equal to the dollar in value and to have those currencies developed in the United States. Downing is a member of the House Financial Services Committee, where bills dealing with digital assets are heard.
Zinke, a former Navy SEAL commander, was director of a crypto investment firm, Artillery One, in 2019 after resigning as President Trump’s Interior secretary.
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