The US banking banking committee advanced Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Acting Chairman Travil Hill’s Process Process on Wednesday, setting up a final vote in the broader Senate to potentially make Hill the permanent head of the banking agency with an ongoing role in overseeing the crypto sector.
Senators voted along party lines 13-11 to report Hill’s nomination as the Senate “favorite” during an executive session of the committee. If the Senate confirms him, President Donald Trump will see another of his nominees step up to the helm of a financial agency — a regulator that has a major impact on the health of crypto businesses in the US
The FDIC, one of the three main US banking regulators, has played a key role in the “debanking” controversy in which the crypto industry blames regulators for forcing banks to sever ties with digital businesses and leaders. Hill personally recognized the situation and sought to reverse it during his time running the FDIC as its interim chairman.
On Wednesday, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott said Hill — a former staff member on that committee — is “more than qualified for this important role.” But the panel’s ranking Democrat, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, criticized Hill for what she described as a failure to provide requested information on the agency’s internal efforts to resolve the workplace culture and behavior scandals which exploded under its previous leadership.
In his first weeks leading the agency, Hill reverse of previous guidance That has made it difficult for bankers to engage in crypto activity. He is kept a Pro-crypto stance during his time there, and he helped Coinbase with its campaign on Disclose communications between the FDIC and banks about blocking new businesses in digital assets.
While Trump has made a relatively quick push to secure a friendly head at the Securities and Exchange Commission, Paul Atkins, his nominees for other agencies have not always been confirmed quickly. Among banking regulators, the office of the comptroller of the currency got a new leader in July with the confirmation of Jonathan Gould. But the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ran into a confirmation drama, and the FDIC is nearing the end of the administration’s first year without a permanent chairman.
Read more: Trump makes official pick of Travis Hill as choice to run FDIC
