Reelection

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), one of the crypto industry’s most reliable and powerful allies on Capitol Hill, announced Friday that she will not seek reelection when her term expires next year.

“Deciding not to run for reelection does represent a change of heart for me, but in the difficult, exhausting session weeks this fall I’ve come to accept that I do not have six more years in me,” Lummis said in a statement. “I am a devout legislator, but I feel like a sprinter in a marathon. The energy required doesn’t match up.”

Earlier this year, Lummis—who has been called the “Bitcoin Senator” for her crypto support and advocacy—was instrumental to the passage of the GENIUS Act, the first-ever major piece of crypto legislation signed into law. The bill, which established a federal framework for issuing and trading stablecoins, faced many dramatic starts and stops before ultimately getting over the finish line in late July.

Lummis has also been at the center of ongoing negotiations over the crypto industry’s coveted market structure bill, which has faced even more substantial hurdles to passage. The history of that bill, which would formally legalize most crypto activity in the United States, stretches back to 2022, when Lummis and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) first drafted a version that was ultimately never passed. 

The sprawling market structure bill currently faces numerous obstacles—among them growing dissension between factions within the crypto industry over the legislation’s content and necessity. Senate Republicans first aimed to see the bill passed by the end of summer, then by September, then by the end of this year—a target that has also now slipped by.

The legislation has not yet been marked up by the Senate Banking Committee, and Congress is expected to grind to a halt by spring in anticipation of the 2026 midterms. Whether the bill will manage to become law will likely become one of the final benchmarks of Lummis’ 18-year tenure in Congress.

In her time advocating for crypto-related issues, Lummis has also placed a particular emphasis on the importance of Bitcoin. Earlier this year, the senator introduced the Bitcoin Act, which would obligate the U.S. government to purchase some $80 billion worth of Bitcoin over a five-year period in the interest of bolstering a federal strategic Bitcoin reserve.

Lummis’ retirement announcement Friday immediately prompted messages of support from crypto industry leaders. 

“Senator Lummis has been a leading champion for digital assets in Washington,” Ji Kim, CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation, said in a statement shared with Decrypt. “The digital asset ecosystem is stronger because of her service, and we are grateful for her leadership.”

Lummis would have been up for reelection next year. She will retire from Congress in January 2027.