The U.S. Senate recently passed on advancing a bill aimed at setting federal rules for stablecoins, with Senators citing President Donald Trump’s personal affairs as the reason.
Late last week, it was reported that Senate Democrats voted against advancing the GENIUS bill to the Senate floor for passage. The decision was made with a final tally of 49-48 as Republican Sen. Rand Paul and Josh Hawley joined the Democrats in voting against the bill. Three Senators chose not to vote.
If passed, the GENIUS Act would have provided regulations for the “stablecoin,” a form of digital currency tied to the U.S. dollar. Although the Senate is in agreement that federal guidelines are needed, prior to voting, nine Senate Democrats, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, penned an open letter calling for changes to the GENIUS Act and expressing concerns about Trump’s own crypto ties.
Prior to his return to the White House, Trump officially launched his own meme coin with First Lady Melania Trump following closely behind. The meme coin currently holds at around $14, but hit a high of $75 as an estimated $148 million was spent by buyers of the coin on a contest issued by the President that allowed 220 of his top buyers to join him at a gala dinner. The top 25, meanwhile, can also expect a “VIP reception” and “Special VIP Tour.”
The family’s connection to World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency venture, is also being called in question alongside the announcement that Trump’s meme coin will be used by an Abu Dhabi investment firm to invest $2 billion in Binance.
Due to several of Trump’s connections to crypto ventures, Senators are pushing for changes to the GENIUS Act to ensure that consumers are protected by guidelines.
“The only version of this bill that we have seen is one that the Republicans put out, and it has four major areas that are problems. The first one is that it would supercharge Donald Trump’s corruption. The second is that it puts national security at risk,” said Sen. Warren, per CNN. “The third is that it undercuts consumer protection and consumer protection laws, and the fourth is it runs a substantial risk of eventually blowing up the US economy and putting us once more in a position where taxpayers have to bail out the billionaires while they end up paying for the risks that the rich people took on.”
Proceedings on changes to the GENIUS Act are underway as the Senate also considers the End Crypto Corruption Act.
Republicans had hearings to impeach Joe Biden for a year over a $10,000 wire transfer and now they are fine with Trump making a billion dollars off a fake crypto currency and accepting a luxury jet from a foreign country.
— Tim Hannan (@TimHannan) May 11, 2025
Created by Democratic Senators such as Chuck Schumer, Jeff Merkley and Sen. Warren, the act ensures that federal leaders do not get involved in crypto themselves.
If passed, the legislation would prohibit the President, Vice President, Senior Executive Branch Officials, Members of Congress and all other family members from creating or endorsing any type of cryptocurrency.
The cryptocurrency that would be regulated includes meme coins and other stablecoins.
