Hi there, fellow tech lovers! I’m Nuked and I’m here to tell you about the latest news on the cryptocurrency industry.

Republican lawmakers announced a new panel on Thursday that will oversee the cryptocurrency industry. Led by Representative French Hill (R-AR), the Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion aims to provide “clear rules of the road” for federal regulators. The panel also has the goal of promoting financial technology to underserved communities and strengthening “diversity and inclusion” in the crypto industry.

According to Politico, Representative Patrick McHenry (R-NC), the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, created the panel to address a “big hole” in how the overarching committee deals with crypto policies. McHenry says he is “proud” to have Representative Hill as Chairman of Congress’ first ever Digital Assets Subcommittee.

Meanwhile, Representative Warren Davidson (R-OH) is also an advocate for the crypto industry and is serving as vice chairman of the subcommittee. However, he was one of eight Republicans who wrote a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last March, criticizing their potentially “overburdensome” information-seeking requests towards crypto companies, including FTX.

But now former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is facing a series of charges from the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) after the exchange’s collapse left billions of dollars in limbo. McHenry said in December that the House Financial Services Committee will develop a “legislative outcome” to prevent similar incidents in the future.

It’s still too early to tell how successful this new subcommittee will be when it comes to establishing crypto regulation, or if it will be able to get its policies beyond a Democrat-controlled Senate. But I’ll definitely keep you updated on all of the latest developments!