Cryptocurrency prices were mixed early Thursday

Cryptocurrency prices were mixed early Thursday as the Senate Banking Committee appointed Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) to lead the new Banking Subcommittee on Digital Assets. Meanwhile, anticipation is building within the digital assets industry for the announcement of a strategic bitcoin reserve.

The Senate on Thursday voted to appoint Senator Lummis to chair the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Digital Assets, which aims to facilitate cryptocurrency legislation.

"Digital assets are the future, and if the United States wants to remain a global leader in financial innovation, Congress needs to urgently pass bipartisan legislation establishing a comprehensive legal framework for digital assets and that strengthens the U.S. dollar with a strategic bitcoin reserve," Senator Lummis wrote online following her appointment. "I am humbled my colleagues have placed their trust in me to chair this historic subcommittee and I look forward to shepherding bipartisan legislation to President Trump's desk this year that secures our financial future."

The new subcommittee is an offshoot of the Senate Banking Committee, which is now led by South Carolina's Republican Sen. Tim Scott.

Meanwhile, Senator Lummis has been a longtime supporter of cryptocurrencies and bitcoin. Last July, she proposed legislation that would require the government to purchase 1 million bitcoin over a five-year period, in an effort to amass 5% of the total supply for a U.S. strategic bitcoin reserve.

MARA Lobbies For Bitcoin Reserve

Meanwhile, executives at bitcoin miner MARA Holdings (MARA) have been lobbying with local government officials to introduce a strategic bitcoin reserve to all 50 states, in addition to the Federal Reserve.

"Focusing now on bringing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (aka SBR) to all 50 states and the federal government," Mara CEO and Chairman Fred Thiel wrote online earlier this week.