Galaxy Flags New Risks for Crypto as Democrats Take Both Chambers

Warren and Waters Positioned to Lead Financial Committees

Galaxy’s head of firmwide research, Alex Thorn, outlined risks for crypto legislation and industry oversight in a Nov. 6 election assessment. Thorn expected U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to chair the Senate Banking Committee and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., to lead the House Financial Services Committee. The leadership changes would put both lawmakers atop panels overseeing financial regulation.

Congressional projections from Decision Desk HQ confirmed Democratic victories in both chambers, setting up divided government beginning in January. Ohio delivered a prominent defeat for industry-backed candidates when former Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown defeated U.S. Senator Jon Husted (R-OH). Galaxy described Brown’s return as the most notable congressional loss for digital asset advocates.

Trump family businesses, including World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture offering the USD1 dollar-backed stablecoin, faced the prospect of closer scrutiny. Thorn also cited Washington law firms hiring lawyers to help clients respond to anticipated investigations. On the legislative outlook, Galaxy stated:

“We do not expect substantial movement in Congress on key digital assets legislation.”

Crypto Rulemaking Continues as Legislation Faces Obstacles

The CLARITY Act, a bill to establish federal oversight and operating rules for crypto markets, suffered a Senate setback before the election. A Sept. 15 procedural vote to advance the bill toward debate failed 49-50, leaving the legislation stalled. Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty subsequently called for a more coordinated industry policy message.

House Democrats were discussing expanding Waters’ proposed crypto investor and consumer bill of rights, a set of customer protections for crypto platforms, into broader market structure legislation. Thorn said federal agencies could keep clarifying crypto rules under powers already granted by federal law. Those agencies included the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and banking regulators.

Market volatility accompanied the political transition, with bitcoin recovering above $80,000 before falling during the broader Nov. 5 sell-off. Galaxy described technology, artificial intelligence, data center stocks, and crypto trading lower together. The firm also reported that voters opposed data center development in 40 of 41 local ballot measures across 10 states.

Bipartisan Wins Offset Some Industry-Backed Defeats

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse emphasized bipartisan election victories while calling for clear rules and continued digital asset development in the United States. Alderoty similarly said the company looked forward to working with both parties. Within Congress, Galaxy highlighted the reelections of Democratic Reps. Josh Gottheimer and Ritchie Torres, alongside Republican House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn Thompson.

Michael Saylor, executive chairman of Strategy Inc. (Nasdaq: MSTR), pointed to bitcoin reserve supporters winning in both parties. Republican Byron Donalds won Florida’s gubernatorial election after backing a federal bitcoin reserve, while Democrat James Talarico won a U.S. Senate seat in Texas. Talarico had supported his state’s reserve legislation while serving in the Texas House.

The industry’s electoral results varied sharply between competitive contests and safer seats in the tracking Galaxy cited. The side backed by crypto and AI political action committees lost nine of the 12 competitive races called as of Nov. 4, researcher Molly White found. In safer races, the same tracker recorded victories for all 40 industry-backed candidates.