Wyoming bitcoin evangelist Sen. Lummis wants to block Powell and Brainard’s nominations to the Fed over their ‘political approach’ to crypto

Wyoming bitcoin evangelist Sen. Lummis wants to block Powell and Brainard’s nominations to the Fed over their ‘political approach’ to crypto

Cynthia Lummis, the Republican senator from Wyoming, said the nominations of Jerome Powell and Lael Brainard to the Federal Reserve stand in the way of crypto adoption. Powell was for another term as Fed chair, with his current term set to expire in February. Brainard, a Fed governor, was nominated to serve as vice chair. But in a Tuesday , Lummis said, "Unfortunately, over the past year my faith in the Fed has been deeply shaken by its political approach to digital assets in my home state, Wyoming, greatly contributing to my concerns over President Biden's nominees, Jay Powell and Lael Brainard." She has been encouraging senators to block Powell and Brainard's Fed nominations, , citing a source in Lummis' office. But the chair of the Senate Banking Committee, Democrat Sherrod Brown of Ohio, wants to move quickly on confirming the nominees, according to Bloomberg. In Wyoming — where multiple have been passed — crypto banks called Special Purpose Depository Institutions are in limbo as they wait for the Federal Reserve to process their applications, Lummis wrote, noting Kraken and Avanti received their bank charters in the state in 2020. "While Mr. Powell and Ms. Brainard have said they want