Senator Invoice Hagerty (R-TN) has been within the headlines as of late as the GENIUS Act (S. 1582), a invoice for which he was the first sponsor, moves closer to passing in the U.S. Senate.
The GENIUS Act is a invoice that, if enacted into legislation, would create a federal regulatory framework for stablecoins in order that the expertise might be extra broadly adopted. (Whereas some Bitcoin lovers could not like this, they need to nonetheless take note of the language within the invoice, as it could have an impact on U.S. citizens’ ability to use Bitcoin wallets privately.)
Nevertheless, stablecoins aren’t the one factor on Senator Hagerty’s thoughts.
He’s additionally desirous about the right way to finest produce and harness power in Tennessee to make use of it for Bitcoin mining and AI compute.
He shared his imaginative and prescient on this matter with me in an interview I carried out with him at Bitcoin 2025:
Tennessee As A Hub For Bitcoin Mining and AI Compute
“We’ve a chance earlier than us to be within the very lead,” Senator Hagerty advised Bitcoin Journal in regard to constructing nuclear services that can be utilized to provide power for Bitcoin mining and AI processing.
“The biggest utility on the earth is the Tennessee Valley Authority — actually the most important one in America — and I feel we’ve acquired a singular alternative right here to maneuver ahead and turn out to be the power hub of America,” he added.
“[We should] see increasingly not solely mining operations, but when you concentrate on what Elon Musk is doing in Memphis with xAI, the information facilities, the alternatives with synthetic intelligence — there are numerous, many issues which can be going to occur in Tennessee.”
The Senator added that he believes the state also can strike partnerships with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Vanderbilt College, the College of Tennessee and Tennessee Tech as it really works to turn out to be a extra pleasant vacation spot for Bitcoin miners and knowledge facilities.
“We’ve acquired nice alternatives [from] Memphis all the best way throughout the state,” mentioned Senator Hagerty.
Hagerty’s Name For Bipartisanship
Whether or not it’s working towards stablecoin laws or crafting regulation that can allow industries like Bitcoin mining and knowledge facilities to thrive in america, Senator Hagerty believes these efforts needs to be inherently bipartisan.
“[These are] bipartisan — or nonpartisan concern[s] — frankly,” mentioned the Senator.
“For those who care in regards to the competitiveness of America — if you wish to see innovation occur on our shores quite than being pushed abroad — then you definately’re going to help what we’re making an attempt to do by way of placing a regulatory framework in place that can ship certainty, that can create an ecosystem right here in America that can permit these firms to thrive,” he added.
“It’s not simply the stablecoin laws I’m placing ahead or what could occur with Bitcoin or different applied sciences like that. It’s the general blockchain expertise that’s going to assist advance America past the twenty first century. We have to keep within the lead. We are able to keep within the lead.”