Waters Enters House Financial Services Chair Race With Crypto Agenda

Rep. Maxine Waters has announced a bid to lead the House Financial Services Committee, placing crypto rules and prediction-market oversight among the priorities she says she would pursue on the panel.

Waters, the committee's top Democrat since 2013, outlined her agenda in a letter to colleagues. She pledged legislation to address what she described as Trump's crypto corruption and to establish rules for legitimate crypto businesses. She also called for stronger safeguards for consumers, small businesses, community banks and the financial system.

Her agenda includes regulating lending and platforms she characterized as predatory, including prediction markets, along with greater oversight of private equity.

Rep. Sean Casten is challenging Waters for the post. The leadership contest had been expected, with Waters viewed as a likely chair and Casten as a challenger in earlier coverage of the committee outlook.