The chair of the newly formed US congressional digital assets subcommittee committed to progressive crypto regulations to ensure that “America is the place for innovation in fintech and blockchain.”

Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Jan. 26, Congressman French Hill offered some of his first thoughts on what’s in store for crypto regulations in the country.

The Financial Services Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion, chaired by Hill, was put together on January 12 with a mandate to “identify best practices and policies that continue to strengthen diversity and inclusion in the digital asset ecosystem.”

During the interview, Hill said that Bitcoin (BTC) was not yet ready to be a real-time payments industry, but added that “we want to make sure that the United States is the place for innovation in fintech and blockchain is part of that future.”

We want to make sure that America is the place for FinTech innovation and that blockchain and distributed ledger technology are part of that FinTech future.

this morning i joined @SquawkCNBC to talk about cryptography and financial technology.

My interview below:https://t.co/TDztq1muhX

— French Hill (@RepFrenchHill) January 26, 2023

When asked about the possibility of a spot Bitcoin ETF (exchange traded fund), Hill commented that the new subcommittee wants to explore this possibility as well.

The SEC has reiterated Rejected Applications for a Spot Bitcoin ETFincluding one of the world’s largest crypto asset manager, Grayscale.

Other areas of focus for the subcommittee will be related to federal privacy law, a stablecoin bill, and ramifications for the stock market, while working with the Senate on the commodity side of the crypto industry.

He said that cryptocurrency trading and exchanges would have to be “monitored,” but did not specify which agency would do so.

“All of that is on the table and all of that is going to be a priority this year,” he said.

Related: Next House Committee Chairman Reintroduces Crypto Innovation Bill

The host hinted that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been holding off, asking “as long as Gary Gensler is there, do you see any progress?”

Hill said that Gensler was the “policeman on duty” last year and claimed to be an expert in this area, adding:

“So we will invite you to Congress to tell us what you know, what you recommend in this area, and what you were doing last year when we had so many challenges for our investors and consumers.”

The feedback and outlook is positive when put in context with the SEC, which has been accused by senators of regulating through enforcement and conduct extrajudicial raids in the crypto industry.