This afternoon, a major cryptocurrency industry-supported bill, the GENIUS Act, fell short of proceeding in the Senate. Several key Democrats who had been negotiating with Republicans to advance the legislation, which would establish a regulatory framework for the digital assets known as stablecoins, opted against moving forward with the version of the bill in front of them—for today, at least.
Ahead of the vote, Sludge reported with More Perfect Union on what’s in the GENIUS Act, and how its provisions could benefit the businesses of President Donald Trump, his family, and his associates, in ventures like their new “USD1” stablecoin. Ethics watchdogs warn that the Trump family’s crypto ventures aren’t just unseemly, or a potential ethics trap—rather, that they may amount to criminal violations of anti-corruption laws.
The cloture vote, brought by Senate Republican leader John Thune, came out 48 "aye" to 49 "nay," with all Democrats and three Republicans voting against the measure. The procedural vote was shy of the 60-vote threshold needed to proceed with the legislation—but talks will continue over the next week. "We need time,” Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), who had been leading a group of Democrats in negotiations to advance the bill, told Politico. “We’re not shutting down."
