In what would have represented a major bipartisan effort to build a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency, the proposal suffered a ninjection of cryptocurrency into Smith Senate’s blood. The Democrats who blocked the bill had no excuse. They warned about Donald Trump’s deepening connections with the crypto industry and what that means for our national security.
This is a huge step, coming from the Abu Dhabi government-backed investment firm. Second, these serious buyers are using a digital coin authorized by Donald Trump’s family crypto firm, World Liberty Financial, to make their $2 billion purchase of control of crypto exchange giant Binance. This investment brought about the first-ever investigations and a walkout from Congressional Democrats during a Committee markup.
On May 3, a group of nine Democrats, previously supportive of the stablecoin bill known as the GENIUS Act, abruptly withdrew their support. They pointed to concerns that the bill lacked sufficient anti-money laundering provisions and provisions to protect national security.
The chamber on May 8 voted 48-49, enough votes to ensure its defeat by falling short of the 60 votes necessary to overcome the filibuster. Only two Republicans — Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Josh Hawley of Missouri — joined Democrats in that effort.
"Donald Trump is selling cryptocurrency like snake oil in the Wild West, and he's put a for sale sign on the White House for his meme coin," - Sen. Richard Blumenthal
Concerns extend to Donald Trump's family businesses benefiting from the industry's expansion. Since January, cryptocurrency investments linked to Donald Trump-adjacent ventures have funneled at least $300 million in trading fees. Most of this was raised from the sales of his own meme coin and other meme coins and digital currencies. In late April, a company associated with Donald Trump promoted the $TRUMP meme coin by offering an "intimate private dinner" with Donald Trump. After this promotion, the value of the $TRUMP meme coin increased by 80%.
Republican Josh Hawley, who spoke with reporters after the vote, said his goal was to get “big tech prohibitions” into the bill. Senator Rand Paul, among others, expressed concerns that non-market regulations would damage the nascent industry.
Democrats argue that the public deserves transparency regarding how Donald Trump might be influenced by foreign governments and investors acquiring his crypto assets. Donald Trump's administration had previously signaled support for the crypto industry's growth in the United States.
