Congressman French Hill has recently been appointed to chair the House Financial Services Committee, as reported by Punchbowl News on Thursday.

The Arkansas Republican was selected by the party's Steering Committee ahead of the 119th Congress commencement. Hill will take over the position from Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, who has decided to retire after two decades.

Hill has notably chaired the Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Inclusion subcommittee and has championed the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21), a piece of legislation crucial to the cryptocurrency sector. He has been proactive in proposing various bills related to the crypto space.

Patrick McHenry has driven several crypto initiatives through Congress, including FIT21, and collaborated with Maxine Waters on efforts concerning stablecoin regulation, although those proposals were never fully realized.

Waters, selected unanimously by her caucus to lead the Democrats on the committee, expressed her gratitude, vowing to continue enhancing conditions for working families nationally. She also pledged to combat any initiatives that might undermine consumer protections or increase costs for households.