Proponents of a bill to regulate stablecoins in the US Congress will likely take up another vote on the legislation in a matter of days without responding to concerns about President Donald Trump\u2019s financial ties to the cryptocurrency industry.<\/p>\n
The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins, or GENIUS Act, failed to get enough votes<\/a> to pass in the US Senate on May 8 amid calls from some Democratic lawmakers to halt any legislation related to digital assets until Republicans could address Trump\u2019s potential conflicts of interest. <\/p>\n Immediately following the vote, some lawmakers from both parties suggested<\/a> they could reconsider the bill as early as this week, but without agreeing on a bipartisan path forward.<\/p>\n After the GENIUS Act failed to proceed in a 48 to 49 vote in the Senate, Majority Leader John Thune made a motion to reconsider, setting up a possible vote on the matter within days. A source familiar with the matter told Cointelegraph Republicans who backed the bill were unlikely to modify it to block Trump or any member of his administration from investing in digital assets, claiming it was beyond Congress\u2019s authority under the Constitution.<\/p>\n \u201c[…] this delay is not inherently detrimental,\u201c said Liat Shetret, vice president of global policy and regulation at blockchain analytics firm Elliptic. \u201cWe can expect the bill to return to the floor, with this pause giving both parties time to clarify provisions and address lawmakers\u2019 concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n The Cedar Innovation Foundation, an organization tied to the political action committee (PAC) Fairshake, issued a warning to Senate leadership to \u201cavoid political games\u201d and pass a stablecoin bill \u201cin the coming days.\u201d Fairshake spent more than $131 million to support candidates in the 2024 US elections, some of whom are currently serving in the House and Senate. There are still more than 500 days until the 2026 midterms, when many members of Congress are up for reelection.<\/p>\n On May 12, the Senate resumed consideration of the motion to proceed to consideration of the GENIUS Act, suggesting another vote soon.<\/p>\n Related: <\/strong><\/em>US Treasury Secretary expresses support for crypto bills at hearing<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Should Republicans in the Senate reintroduce the bill without any changes, it\u2019s unclear whether they would have enough support to clear a 60-vote majority to avoid a Democratic filibuster \u2014 a process to delay or sometimes block a vote on a bill. <\/p>\n The Trump family\u2019s ties to the crypto platform World Liberty Financial and its stablecoin, USD1, have raised potential corruption concerns, as has offering the top holders<\/a> of his TRUMP memecoin the chance to pay for access to the president through an exclusive dinner and reception.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c[…] the Republicans\u2019 bill did nothing to address Trump\u2019s conflict, and instead voted to hand Trump the authority to write the rules over his and his competitors\u2019 stablecoins,\u201d said<\/a> Democratic Representative Maxine Waters in a May 6 statement. She blocked a hearing <\/a>to discuss a possible digital asset market structure bill, citing concerns about Trump\u2019s \u201cownership of crypto.\u201d<\/p>\n Democratic lawmakers have already introduced possible solutions<\/a> to what they called the \u201cbiggest corruption scandal in the history of the White House\u201d \u2014 with legislation in the House and Senate to bar members of Congress, the president, the vice president, and their families from profiting off memecoins. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Van Hollen also reportedly called<\/a> on the president to fully divest from USD1 before making any possible deals with foreign governments.<\/p>\n The nonpartisan organization State Democracy Defenders Action reported<\/a> in April that Trump\u2019s crypto holdings were worth roughly $2.9 billion, which accounted for 40% of his wealth. This report came before the launch of World Liberty Financial\u2019s stablecoin, which an Abu Dhabi-based investment firm said it would use to settle a $2 billion investment<\/a> in Binance. Trump\u2019s sons, Eric, Donald Trump Jr., and Barron, were all listed as \u201cWeb3 ambassadors\u201d for the platform.<\/p>\nChanges to stablecoin or market structure bills?<\/h2>\n