Crypto laments Lummis retirement, key ally on Capitol Hill

The cryptocurrency industry is mourning the loss of its fiercest advocate on Capitol Hill after Sen. Cynthia Lummis announced Friday she would not seek reelection. 

Lummis, R-Wyo., said last week that the “difficult, exhausting” final weeks of this year’s Congress led her to withdraw her reelection bid, saying she’s “come to accept that I do not have six more years in me.”

Lummis is chair of the Senate Banking Committee’s crypto subpanel and a reliable ally for the industry — helping muscle through the Genius Act, a first-of-its-kind bill regulating stablecoins, in July. She is currently negotiating legislation as part of an industry-backed push for broader regulation of cryptocurrency. 

Crypto interests bemoaned her retirement, which sets up a primary for her seat in ruby-red Wyoming in 2026. 

“Senator Lummis has been a great ally on crypto — very sorry to see her go!” said David Sacks, the White House AI and crypto czar, in a post to X. 

Conner Brown, the head of strategy and the Bitcoin Policy Institute, called Lummis “the Senate’s first and finest bitcoiner.”

“We are incredibly lucky to have had her leadership at so many critical moments for bitcoin policy over these critical years,” Brown said.