“The GENIUS Act is an important step, but it is just one of many actions that the crypto industry and its allies in the White House and Capitol Hill are taking to launch an uncontrolled experiment in unleashing crypto on the economy and the financial system,” Mark Hays, an associate director of crypto and fintech at Americans for Financial Reform, a Washington-based advocacy group, told me.
The GENIUS Act (S.1582) took another step closer to becoming law after the Senate passed this alarming bill this evening, which links crypto tokens purportedly pegged to the U.S. dollar – stablecoins – to the broader financial system without meaningful consumer protections or safeguards for investors. This bill also stands to enrich President Trump and his family personally via their many crypto business ventures.
The GENIUS Act (S.1528) took another step closer to becoming law after the Senate cleared a key procedural vote towards passing this alarming bill that links crypto tokens purportedly pegged to the U.S. dollar – stablecoins – to the broader financial system without meaningful consumer protections or safeguards for investors. This bill also stands to enrich President Trump and his family personally via their many crypto business ventures.
Yesterday, a majority of members of the House Financial Services and Agriculture Committees voted to approve H.R. 3633, the so-called CLARITY Act, a bill written by and for the crypto industry that will reward predatory and exploitative crypto business models and leave consumers, communities, and investors with weak protections and little recourse when the next speculative crypto bubble inevitably bursts.
“If (stablecoin issuers) have to move those Treasuries quickly, or the market demands that, it could create some credit crunches there,” said Mark Hays, associate director for cryptocurrency and financial technology at Americans for Financial Reform. Hays said this assumes that stablecoins become more widely used after legislation passes.
Congress, its eye on a futuristic form of finance, is debating legislation that would legitimize stablecoins, a specific type of cryptocurrency linked to the U.S. dollar. But lawmakers eager to do the bidding of this new industry are ignoring the transformation of the American regulatory system and allegations of corruption in the second Trump administration.
Progressive groups, including Indivisible and Americans for Financial Reform, have been circulating petitions in opposition to the bill, and a new organization called Democracy Defenders Action, led by former White House counsel Norm Eisen, is warning senators to vote no.
The Senate thankfully blocked plans to fast-track legislation that would have emboldened the crypto conflicts of interest crisis that are emanating from the White House. This toothless legislation posed real risks for consumers and the financial system, but a vote to advance this legislation would have rewarded the President for enriching himself and his family through a crypto business empire.
The Senate is moving toward legislation to embed cryptocurrency tokens known as stablecoins into the fabric of the financial system at the very same time that a prominent person – no less than President Trump – is plumbing the depths of corruption and conflicts of interest. The beginning of the solution to the problem of crypto scams and corruption involves stopping this legislation – not fast-tracking it to enactment.
Today, watchdogs raised alarm about a new ~$2.7 billion partnership between Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), Crypto.com and investment industry-related firm Yorkville America Digital to market cryptocurrency-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other investments to retail investors.