Senate expected to pass crypto bill without addressing Trump's
investments
[June 17, 2025]
By JOEY CAPPELLETTI, MARY CLARE JALONICK and ALAN SUDERMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is expected to approve legislation Tuesday
that would regulate a form of cryptocurrency known as stablecoins, the
first of what is expected to be a wave of crypto legislation from
Congress that the industry hopes will bolster its legitimacy and
reassure consumers.
The fast-moving legislation, which will be sent to the House for
potential revisions, comes on the heels of a 2024 campaign cycle where
the crypto industry ranked among the top political spenders in the
country, underscoring its growing influence in Washington and beyond.
Eighteen Democratic senators have shown support for the legislation as
it has advanced, siding with the Republican majority in the 53-47
Senate. If passed, it would become the second major bipartisan bill to
advance through the Senate this year, following the Laken Riley Act on
immigration enforcement in January.
Still, most Democrats oppose the bill. They have raised concerns that
the measure does little to address President Donald Trump’s personal
financial interests in the crypto space.
“We weren’t able to include certainly everything we would have wanted,
but it was a good bipartisan effort," said Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md.,
on Monday. She added, “This is an unregulated area that will now be
regulated.”
Known as the GENIUS Act, the bill would establish guardrails and
consumer protections for stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency typically
pegged to the U.S. dollar. The acronym stands for “Guiding and
Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins.”
It's expected to pass Tuesday, since it only requires a simple majority
vote — and it already cleared its biggest procedural hurdle last week in
a 68-30 vote. But the bill has faced more resistance than initially
expected.
There is a provision in the bill that bans members of Congress and their
families from profiting off stablecoins. But that prohibition does not
extend to the president and his family, even as Trump builds a crypto
empire from the White House.
Trump hosted a private dinner last month at his golf club with top
investors in a Trump-branded meme coin. His family holds a large stake
in World Liberty Financial, a crypto project that provides yet another
avenue where investors are buying in and enriching the president’s
relatives. World Liberty has launched its own stablecoin, USD1.
The administration is broadly supportive of crypto's growth and its
integration into the economy. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent last week
said the legislation could help push the U.S. stablecoin market beyond
$2 trillion by the end of 2028.
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Brian Armstrong, left, Co-founder and CEO of Coinbase, and Jeremy
Allaire, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Circle, participate in the
State of Crypto Summit, in New York, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP
Photo/Richard Drew)
Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase — the nation’s largest crypto
exchange and a major advocate for the bill — has met with Trump and
praised his early moves on crypto. This past weekend, Coinbase was
among the more prominent brands that sponsored a parade in
Washington commemorating the Army’s 250th anniversary — an event
that coincided with Trump’s 79th birthday.
But the crypto industry emphasizes that they view the legislative
effort as bipartisan, pointing to champions on each side of the
aisle.
“The GENIUS Act will be the most significant digital assets
legislation ever to pass the U.S. Senate,” Senate Banking Committee
Chair Tim Scott, R-S.C., said ahead of a key vote last week. “It’s
the product of months of bipartisan work.”
The bill did hit one rough patch in early May, when a bloc of Senate
Democrats who had previously supported the bill reversed course and
voted to block it from advancing. That prompted new negotiations
involving Senate Republicans, Democrats and the White House, which
ultimately produced the compromise version expected to win passage
Tuesday.
“There were many, many changes that were made. And ultimately, it’s
a much better deal because we were all at the table,” Alsobrooks
said.
Still, the bill leaves unresolved concerns over presidential
conflicts of interest — an issue that remains a source of tension
within the Democratic caucus.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has been among the most outspoken as
the ranking member on the Senate Banking Committee, warning that the
bill creates a “super highway” for Trump corruption. She has also
warned that the bill would allow major technology companies, such as
Amazon and Meta, to launch their own stablecoins.
If the stablecoin legislation passes the Senate on Tuesday, it still
faces several hurdles before reaching the president’s desk. It must
clear the narrowly held Republican majority in the House, where
lawmakers may try to attach a broader market structure bill —
sweeping legislation that could make passage through the Senate more
difficult.
Trump has said he wants stablecoin legislation on his desk before
Congress breaks for its August recess, now just under 50 days away.
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