U.S. Congresswoman Maxine Waters Announces Candidacy for Chair of House Financial Services Committee! Aims to Establish Strict Yet Fair Rules for Legitimate Cryptocurrency Businesses

In the cryptocurrency circle (120btc.CoM): On November 7, Beijing time (corresponding to November 6, Eastern Time), U.S. Congresswoman Maxine Waters, a senior Democrat from California, officially sent a letter to her party colleagues announcing her candidacy for the Chair of the House Financial Services Committee. The 88-year-old Waters is currently the ranking member of the committee and has long led the Democratic caucus since 2013; during the period from 2019 to 2023, when the Democrats controlled the House, she served as the committee chair, becoming the first woman and the first African American to hold this key financial position in U.S. congressional history.

The political landscape for this congressional power restructuring stems from the recently concluded U.S. midterm elections. According to the modeling by election tracking organization Decision Desk HQ, the Democrats showed strong momentum in the elections on November 3, not only regaining 54 seats in the Senate but also projected to secure 251 seats in the House. With the legal majority threshold of 218 seats in the House, the Democrats' advantage exceeds the majority threshold by 33 seats. As a result of this shift, although the current committee chair, Republican Congressman French Hill from Arkansas, successfully won re-election in his district, he must still hand over the gavel when the new Congress is officially sworn in on January 3, 2027.

Campaign Platform Directly Targets Cryptocurrency and Prediction Markets

In her campaign letter to party colleagues, Waters set clear and strong policy priorities for the financial regulatory landscape. Bloomberg reported that her core policy agenda covers the following key dimensions:

• Establishing entry thresholds for digital assets: Committing to set strict yet fair rules for self-certified compliant legitimate cryptocurrency businesses, strengthening regulatory constraints on decentralized prediction markets, and promoting special legislation to curb corruption related to cryptocurrency and political-business connections;

• Penetrating the Federal Reserve's settlement and clearing framework: Proposing to prudently expand the open access of the Federal Reserve's master accounts and promote systemic reforms involving the Federal Reserve's internal governance and discount window lending system. Previously, in April 2026, Waters publicly questioned the Kansas City Fed's approval decision to grant a master account to the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, pointing out the lack of transparency in its review process;

• Restructuring housing and inclusive finance: Proposing to officially rename the committee to the "Housing and Financial Services Committee," aiming to carry forward the bipartisan-supported "21st Century Housing Road Act" passed in the summer of 2026, expanding affordable housing programs and restructuring mortgage securitization financing; at the same time, advocating for the complete elimination of overdraft fees and late payment charges, and restoring the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) independent budget allocations;

• Regulating non-bank institutions and frontier technologies: Strengthening compliance reviews and accountability mechanisms for private equity fund managers, enhancing transparency in shadow banking, while appropriately broadening access paths for ordinary retail investors to participate in equity investments in high-quality non-public companies, and introducing special legislation to address the systemic risks posed by artificial intelligence to macro-financial stability.

Upholding a Cautious Stance on Risk Aversion

A review of the legislative context shows that Waters has consistently maintained a cautious stance of strong regulation in the digital asset field. In May 2024, when the House voted on the Republican-led "21st Century Financial Innovation and Technology Act" (FIT21), Waters directly cast a dissenting vote. Entering May 2025, she further led the introduction of the "Stop TRUMP in Crypto Act," clearly advocating for legislation to prohibit the President, Vice President, members of Congress, and their immediate family members from issuing or promoting digital assets, strictly forbidding public officials from profiting from token projects. In the previous Senate's procedural stalling of the CLARITY Act discussion, she also expressed criticism of the insufficient regulatory penetration. However, analysis by American Banker pointed out that given the White House's executive branch holds presidential veto power, even if Waters successfully takes the gavel, the highly partisan and radical legislative proposals will still face severe challenges in becoming formal legislation.

In terms of internal party selection, 54-year-old Congressman Sean Casten from Illinois, who is in his fourth term, has already sent out a campaign letter on November 6, Beijing time, publicly challenging the former leader. Casten, who was previously promoted by Waters to serve as the committee's vice chair, advocates for lowering housing and commercial insurance costs for residents, protecting vulnerable groups from cryptocurrency fraud and speculation in prediction markets, and has previously collaborated with Republican lawmakers to advance bipartisan legislation to combat cryptocurrency ATM fraud targeting the elderly.

According to the legislative process disclosed by congressional political media Roll Call, the final selection of the committee's leadership must first undergo preliminary selection by the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, and then be approved by all party members through secret ballot. From the current distribution of factions, aside from Casten and two other members, the vast majority of Democrats have clearly endorsed Waters, and given that Casten's proposal appears somewhat thin in execution details, Waters' advantage in regaining the committee gavel remains solid.

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