The Senate Banking Committee is scheduled to vote on SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw’s reappointment on Wednesday, December 18, after a planned vote was scrapped last week. Committee Republicans and the crypto industry have opposed her nomination due to her approach to digital assets. The Wednesday vote would leave just two days to get Crenshaw's nomination to a full Senate vote, as Congress is set to adjourn on December 20. Lawmakers are also tackling spending bills and other legislative priorities.

Rep. French Hill (R-AR) said in an interview with CNBC that House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) is aiming to introduce a comprehensive crypto market structure bill within the first 100 days of the next Congress. Hill also criticized the current regulatory approach under SEC Chair Gary Gensler. Rep. Hill also said in an interview with Politico that crypto legislation will be one of his top priorities as chair of the House Financial Services Committee, adding that he would like to work with Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA) on a market structure bill. His other priorities include the regulatory burden on community banks and the "misdirected oversight" of the SEC.

The Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) issued a directive to gather information on firms’ current and expected future crypto asset exposures, mandating firms to disclose their current crypto asset holdings, future plans, and application of the Basel framework for managing crypto-related risks by March 24, 2025. The PRA said in a press release that responses will inform the agency's work on crypto assets by helping "calibrate our prudential treatment of cryptoasset exposures, analyse the relative costs and benefits of different policy options and providing an updated view of firms' current and intended cryptoasset-related business activities as a base from which to monitor the financial stability implications of these assets."

US District Judge Ana Reyes issued an order directing the FDIC to re-review four heavily redacted crypto letters it handed over in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed on behalf of Coinbase. Last week, the parties in the case made public 23 missives between FDIC and regulated institutions in which the regulator directed banks to slow or pause crypto efforts to accommodate additional regulatory discussions. All the correspondence contained redactions to obscure the financial institutions and products at issue. Relatedly, FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg told reporters that the agency’s directives for some banks to pause crypto-related activities do not amount to “debanking” of the industry, but are instead based on concern for the risks posed by banks’ involvement with digital assets.

DOJ announced that Michael Joseph McElhiney was sentenced to 41 months in prison for defrauding investors by pretending to operate a crypto investment fund known as MAC Blockchain Solutions. According to court documents, McElhiney promised prospective investors that he and his purported business partners ran a successful crypto investment fund that invested in emerging cryptocurrencies and other blockchain-based projects, such as ETH staking and crypto liquidity pools. McElhiney solicited investors online through data apps and Call of Duty, as well as in person via Uber. He defrauded investors of more than $350,000.

DOJ announced that Frank Richard Ahlgren III was sentenced to two years in prison for filing a tax return that falsely underreported the capital gains he earned from selling $3.7 million in BTC. He was also ordered to pay more than $1 million in restitution to the IRS for the lost tax dollars. The prison sentence is just shy of the 27 months federal prosecutors requested when they argued in a sentencing memo that it would serve as a needed warning to virtual currency users. Ahlgren was an early investor in BTC, purchasing the tokens as early as 2011 and selling them in 2017.

In an interview with CNBC, President-elect Trump said his administration would do some “great” things with crypto, emphasizing the need to stay ahead of China and other competitors. Trump also highlighted the importance of staying ahead on AI. Other topics of focus included dividend and capital gains taxes, natural gas, and the stock market.

The House Republican Steering Committee selected Rep. French Hill (R-AR) to chair the House Financial Services Committee next Congress. Digital assets advocates have lobbied for Hill to get the job since before he formally announced his bid, and Committee Democrats also voiced support for Hill. Hill currently chairs the panel's Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion and he has played a crucial role in getting Democrats on board with Republicans' push to enact crypto legislation. Hill will serve across from Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA).

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published a report to facilitate awareness of tokenized deposits, as well as assess their potential benefits and challenges. The report also aims to promote convergence in the classification of tokenized deposits in contrast with electronic money tokens (EMTs) issued by credit institutions under MiCA. EBA notes that potential benefits include programmability and automation of transfers, while potential challenges include issues relating to consumer protection, operational risk, and the application of the anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism framework.