In the United States Senate, attitudes towards cryptocurrency adoption are not split evenly. You would almost expect younger Members of Congress to be more tech-savvy and thus friendlier towards digital currency projects, but many progressives feel that their constituents, who are typically working-class voters, have more pressing issues on their minds. As for Republicans, those who lean more towards Libertarian philosophy are the only ones who think crypto is a good idea.

Republican Senator Rob Portman, a conservative leader, previously seemed to be supportive of cryptocurrency business, which he thinks could add new dimensions to the American economy, but he recently signaled an intent to impose more regulatory compliance requirements on digital currency brokers.

Most lawmakers would like to see less federal regulation on cryptocurrency exchanges; the rationale for this sentiment is that these entities already face heavy regulatory compliance at the state level because they operate in the financial sector.

As early as 2017, Senator Chuck Schumer, the third-most senior Democrat in the Senate, spoke positively of Bitcoin, saying that he thought it might have more longevity than most people realize. The Senator explained that “Bitcoin is a technology that addresses a very real need in the financial services. That same year, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, Coinbase, announced that it held meetings with Senator Schumer.

Schumer, an early proponent of cryptocurrency adoption, has worked with the United States Senate Banking Committee and is reportedly considering legislation to promote the development of a national digital currency.

In 2018, a few other Senators expressed opinions on the viability of crypto projects as a whole. Senator Mike Lee, a Republican, told the Senate during a 2017 Judiciary Committee hearing on Bitcoin that he had no expertise on the matter, but he added that he was willing to meet with Coinbase executives.

According to Senator Lindsey Graham, in 2018, many of the people who got involved in Bitcoin and crypto were libertarians. He felt that if these people had not had a libertarian ideology, they would not be participating in Bitcoin at all. Other notable proponents of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in the U.S. Senate include Senator Cory Booker, an African American Democrat from New Jersey and previously an executive director of the Newark Community Development Corporation.