Republican

2024

PancakeSwap

US Senator Elizabeth Warren, one of the more outspoken voices against digital assets in Congress, is calling for answers from Justice Department and Treasury Department officials about a potential investigation into decentralized crypto exchanges, citing concerns over PancakeSwap and Uniswap.&nbsp;
In a Monday letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Attorney General Pam Bondi, Warren <a href="https://www.banking.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/12152025lettertobessentandbondirepancakeswap.pdf" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">asked</a> whether their respective departments were “investigating significant national security risks posed by decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges like PancakeSwap.”
The Massachusetts senator raised concerns about “improper political influence” from the Trump administration over the selective enforcement of crypto companies and reports of money laundering tied to North Korea, asking for a response by Jan. 12.
“As Congress considers crypto market structure legislation—including rules to prevent terrorists, criminals, and rogue states from exploiting decentralized finance (DeFi) to fund their activities—it is critical to understand whether you are seriously investigating these risks,” Warren wrote to Bessent and Bondi, adding:
<blockquote data-ct-non-breakable="undefined">
 “The public deserves to know whether you are investigating the serious risks identified by national security experts and the crypto industry itself.”
</blockquote>
<figure>
 <img alt="Government, United States, Department of Justice, Investigation, PancakeSwap" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-12/019b2893-b236-7c27-b394-a6b23c33f534.png" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Monday letter from Senator Elizabeth Warren. Source: <a href="https://www.banking.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/12152025lettertobessentandbondirepancakeswap.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" title="https://www.banking.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/12152025lettertobessentandbondirepancakeswap.pdf">Senate Banking Committee</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
Warren’s letter came as the US Senate prepared to wind down activities before the chamber broke for the holidays. Some Republicans on the Banking Committee had expected to address the digital market structure bill, known as the Responsible Financial Innovation Act, before the end of the year. However, Chair Tim Scott <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-crypto-market-structure-legislation-delayed-until-2026" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-crypto-market-structure-legislation-delayed-until-2026">confirmed on Monday</a> that a markup hearing on the legislation had been pushed to 2026.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/senator-warren-clarity-act-congress-september">Top US Democrat signals fight over crypto market structure</a>
The Massachusetts senator also raised concerns over reports that PancakeSwap had been “drumming up interest among traders to use coins issued by the Trump family’s main crypto company, World Liberty Financial.”
Some Senate Democrats have raised concerns about the US president’s potential influence and conflicts of interest regarding the legislation, given his and his family’s ties to the crypto industry.
<h2 id="xrp-lawyer-who-challenged-warren-in-2024-will-run-again">XRP lawyer who challenged Warren in 2024 will run again</h2>
John Deaton, the lawyer who ran against Warren in the 2024 US election, is making another bid for Congress. Deaton has been an advocate for XRP (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/xrp-price-index" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" title="https://cointelegraph.com/xrp-price-index">XRP</a>) holders in court, emerging as a prominent figure in the cryptocurrency industry over the past few years.
In November, he <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/xrp-lawyer-john-deaton-us-senate" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/xrp-lawyer-john-deaton-us-senate">announced that he would run</a> as a Republican for the US Senate again in 2026. Warren is not up for reelection next year, so Deaton will be attempting to unseat Democratic Senator Ed Markey.
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/cryptos-impossible-choice-when-privacy-and-aml-laws-conflict/">When privacy and AML laws conflict: Crypto projects’ impossible choice</a>

US senator questions DeFi oversight amid crypto bill delay

Table of Contents

Cointelegraph

Other articles published on Dec 16, 2025

PayPal’s Bold Move: A New Bank for Small Business Loans Could Transform Financing

Visa launches USDC settlement for US banks on Solana blockchain

Ronin and ZKsync’s onchain metrics fell the most in 2025

VECTOR Goes Live as Cardano’s Institutional Expansion Chain

Kaspa Price Action at $0.0435 Suggests Possible Downward Pressure

PayPal Applies for Utah Industrial Bank License

Join our free newsletter for daily crypto updates!