Crypto's new clout was on full display last week, when five Senate Democrats on the Banking Committee defied apocalyptic warnings from Warren, the panel's top Democrat, and supported industry-backed legislation regulating privately issued stablecoins pegged to the US dollar. It was an abrupt turnaround from previous years, when crypto sceptic Sherrod Brown, then the Banking Committee's Democratic chairman, blocked action on industry-friendly bills Gillibrand sponsored.