State of Crypto: Crypto Takes Jackson Hole

Policymakers of various stripes spoke at the SALT Wyoming conference this week in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

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The narrative

Congress is still on vacation, but policymakers trekked up to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to speak to the crypto industry — largely praising it or saying how they expect legislation to move forward. Here are some clips of what they said, courtesy of CoinDesk’s Helene Braun and others.

Why it matters

The industry has seen a lot of progress on crypto policy priorities this year. Lawmakers’ comments hint at what the last four months of 2025 might look like, and what we can expect from federal regulators.

Breaking it down

“I believe that we’ll have between 12 and 18 Democrats at least open to voting for market structure.” — Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott

“We will have it on the President’s desk before Thanksgiving.” — Senator Cynthia Lummis on market structure legislation

“Just imagine seeing on public equity all the transactions that go in and out of that company and how much information that gives you.” — Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson

“We need a clear, strategic regulatory framework that will facilitate the adoption of new technology, recognizing that in some cases, it may be inadequate and inappropriate to apply existing regulatory guidance to address emerging tech.” — Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman

“There is nothing to be afraid of when thinking about smart contracts, tokenization or distributed ledgers.” — Federal Reserve Board Governor Chris Waller

“It’s no secret that my side of the aisle would prefer not to see any sitting President — I won’t name one — participating in this market while a sitting president unless those assets are in a sealed trust.” — Rep. Angie Craig, ranking member on the House Agriculture Committee

• Congress remains on break and no regulatory agency is holding an event this week.

• (CNBC) Goldman Sachs expects U.S. consumers to pay for the tariffs that U.S. President Donald Trump imposed on most countries trading with the U.S. A few days after that earlier article, Sony announced it would raise the price of Playstation 5 consoles in the U.S.
• (Electronic Frontier Foundation) Wyoming and South Dakota have enacted stringent laws requiring websites to verify users’ ages if they host “any sexual content,” including “a broad range of non-pornographic content, including classic literature and art.”
• (The Wall Street Journal) Despite Elon Musk’s public statements about founding a new political party, he is backtracking and instead considering supporting Vice President JD Vance and other Republicans, the Journal reported.

If you’ve got thoughts or questions on what I should discuss next week or any other feedback you’d like to share, feel free to email me at nik@coindesk.com or find me on Bluesky @nikhileshde.bsky.social.

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See ya’ll next week!