WASHINGTON — Progressive groups are rallying opposition to an industry-backed crypto bill on the verge of passing the Senate thanks to Democratic support.
The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins, or GENIUS Act, had been on a glide path toward Senate passage earlier this month until the Democrats supporting it balked because of President Donald Trump’s brazen use of crypto to enrich his family.
After a failed vote, the GENIUS Act’s backers regrouped and adjusted the text, and now the Senate is poised to pass the bill this week, with a procedural vote as soon as Monday evening.
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.
“As drafted, the GENIUS Act would enact a regulatory framework for the issuance and regulation of stablecoins,” Eisen and DDA director Virginia Canter wrote in a Friday letter obtained by HuffPost. “Yet, it does not address President Trump’s massive conflicts of interest arising from stablecoins issued by a company in which he and his family have a large financial stake.”
Stablecoins are a type of digital asset with a fixed value, making them more useful for transactions than memecoins or Bitcoin. The GENIUS Act would establish regulations governing what sorts of reserves stablecoin issuers must hold to prevent panics like the one that led to the collapse of the stablecoin Terra in 2022.
But the bill’s significance extends beyond stablecoins. Both the measure’s backers in the crypto industry and its haters elsewhere see it as a first step toward entrenching crypto in the U.S. financial system and rewarding the industry’s massive investments in political campaigns.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has led opposition in the Senate, saying a vote for the bill is a vote for Trump’s corrupt sale of his office.
“Telling the American people that members of Congress are OK with this kind of open corruption not only undercuts the presidency, it undercuts the institution of Congress,” Warren told HuffPost.
In addition to his involvement in a stablecoin, the president is also selling Trump-branded memecoins, and this week, he will be rewarding top buyers with a private dinner and reception. Investors in the Trump coin have said they view the investment as a way of influencing the president.
Warren’s office said the latest draft of the legislation still lacked language forbidding the president from making money off crypto while in office.
The bill can’t pass without support from Democrats. Sens. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) have reportedly been involved in negotiations with Republicans on changes to the legislation.
Another complaint about the GENIUS Act is that it would allow big tech companies to create stablecoins of their own, which opponents fear would give them too much economic power. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) voted against the bill for that reason.
“The GENIUS Act is a catastrophic bill that would allow billionaires like Donald Trump and Elon Musk to create, market, and profit from risky stablecoins, all with barely any federal oversight,” Americans for Financial Reform said in its petition. “If it passed, the bill would legalize digital currencies backed by shady foreign investors, enable surveillance of American consumers, and strip away financial safeguards we all rely on.”