Two of the leading U.S. lawmakers seeking crypto oversight legislation, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) and Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), are maintaining their position that a chance remains for a bill to clear Congress before the year is out.

That long-odds scenario would require some delicate maneuvering to get crypto matters attached to must-move legislation in the so-called lame-duck session of Congress after the elections but before the new members arrive for next year's session.

"I really do think we're going to get something done in the lame duck," Lummis said at an event Tuesday hosted by Georgetown University's Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy. She said an effort still being pushed at the Senate Agricultural Committee could win a bipartisan handshake, then get amended in late-year negotiations to add other necessary details.

If the pursuit of wide-ranging U.S. regulation is delayed into the next congressional session, it'll probably be further pushed into late 2025, Lummis said. "We just can't wait anymore," she said. "Europe is way ahead of us."

McHenry, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee who is set to retire after this session, led the strongest crypto legislative effort to date when he got a comprehensive digital assets bill through the House of Representatives this year. He said that effort – backed by 71 House Democrats, including several of the party's leaders – showed "substantial momentum" for a crypto bill.

He said legislation would probably have to be linked to a spending package that needs congressional approval this year. But he acknowledged that it might not work.

"There are seeds that you plant that may not grow in your timeframe," McHenry said, adding that the crypto sector now has "policy footprints that I've left in the sand" if the debate drags into another session. "Somebody else's name may be on it when it's signed into law."

Lummis also reiterated her view that the U.S. should start building a Bitcoin strategic reserve with a four-year buying program that she argues will turn into trillions in value in 20 years of holding onto the (BTC).

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Jesse Hamilton

Jesse Hamilton is CoinDesk's deputy managing editor on the Global Policy and Regulation team, based in Washington, D.C. Before joining CoinDesk in 2022, he worked for more than a decade covering Wall Street regulation at Bloomberg News and Businessweek, writing about the early whisperings among federal agencies trying to decide what to do about crypto. He’s won several national honors in his reporting career, including from his time as a war correspondent in Iraq and as a police reporter for newspapers. Jesse is a graduate of Western Washington University, where he studied journalism and history. He has no crypto holdings.