Senate democrats demand changes in Cryptocurrency legislation In anticipation of the congress, there is partly to growing evidence that the Trump family uses its connections and the power of President Trump to take advantage of crypto -trade.
The pushback became more intense at the end of last week after a closed-door meeting among senate democrats in which senator Chuck Schumer, the democratic leader, told colleagues that they should not commit themselves to the so-called voting Genius Act, A Bill supported by the crypto industry.
For months the bill seemed to slide to the Passage, with the support of both parties, and it was planned for a procedural vote this week. But in the meeting, Senaatdemocrats expressed their concern that the legislation would immediately improve report Through The New York Times.
One of the concerns that the senators have built up according to the legislators is that the Trump-Lieden Crypto company, World Liberty Financial, has recently concluded a deal to take $ 2 billion of deposits of an Emirati Venture Fund that is supported by the government of Abu Dhabi, as if The Times reported Last week.
“It is a sale of influence, a conflict of interest, only a huge form of corruption that we have not seen,” said Senator Jeff Merkley, Democrat van Oregon, in an interview, following comments he said during the meeting. “And it must be terminated.”
And Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat from Massachusetts, pushed other Democrats to take a position.
The Senate legislation “will make it easier for the president and his family to cover their own bags,” said Mrs. Warren in a statement. “This is corruption and no senator should support it.”
Those ethical concerns have contributed to a broader unrest about the bill among the Democrats. Various senators have also pointed to other issues, with the argument that the legislation has insufficient protection against money laundering.
Representatives of the White House, the Trump organization and world Liberty did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
Crypto leaders have lobbyed for months to accept the Genius Act, a bill that would make it easier for American companies to act in stablecoins, A kind of cryptocurrency That maintains a price of $ 1. It would be one of the first formal acts of legislators to create a regulatory system that could help industry grow in the United States. Crypto traders like to use stablecoins because they do not swing in value such as other digital currencies, making them useful for many types of business transactions.
But a boost for the industry would also be a boost for the world report, the expansion of the market for a stablecoin that recently started to spend it. The Trump family and his partners are already able to accept tens of millions of dollars a year, if not anymore, about those stabilecoins published by worldty.
That prospect has put Pushback from Democratic legislators.
During the meeting on Thursday, Democrats brought a series of objections to the bill, pointing to the conflicts of interest of Mr Trump, as well as language that would help stabile companies abroad to avoid some of the new rules.
On Saturday a group of nine Democrats, including four who voted to promote legislation from the Senate Bank Committee, announced that they would not support it Without major changes. They argued that the bill had no strong provisions to stop money laundering and to stop the foreign crypto companies of the police, but did not mention Mr. Trump’s crypto activities.
Senate republicans need at least seven Democrats to vote with them to move procedural obstacles in the past, so the opposition that has emerged could kill the legislation, possibly a big blow to the policy objectives of the crypto industry in Washington.
During the 2024 election cycle, crypto companies Spend more than $ 130 million Supported congress candidates, including Democrats in tight races, such as Senator Elissa Slotkin by Michigan and Senator Ruben Gallego from Arizona. Mr. Gallego, He voted to promote genius law from the banking committeewas one of the legislators who signed the statement this weekend about the concern about the bill.
Mr. Merkley and Mrs. Warren Moved separately on Monday To ask the Office of Government Ethics to investigate the growing cryptocurrency -business deals of the Trump, and to name them a surprising degree of foreign influence and the potential for a Quid Pro quo that could endanger national security. “
A version of the Stablecoin Bill is also being treated in the house, where democratic leaders are planning to protest the role of Mr Trump in the industry on Tuesday by leaving a hearing about industry.
Representative Sam Liccardo, Democrat van California, who supports the legislation on the Stablecoin legislation, said that the recent movements of the Trump family Crypto leaders have frustrated the congress to complete the bill.
“I have increasingly responded to Silicon Valley of the leaders of the Crypto industry – Deep discomfort with how Trump has packed this industry in a kleptocratic schedule managed by his sons,” said Mr Liccardo.
Even some senate republicans and old crypto proponents have expressed concern about Mr Trump’s efforts and his family to take advantage of crypto. “This is my president we are talking about, but I am willing to say that this gives me a break,” said Senator Cynthia Lummis, Republican of Wyoming, said NBC News Last week.
A one -off crypto -skeptic, Mr Trump embraced digital currencies on the campaign track last year and promised to turn the United States into the ‘Crypto capital of the planet’. In September he and his sons announced that they started World Liberty, a company that would offer his own digital currency.
Once in function, Mr. Trump mentioned leaders at large federal agencies that support the industry and quickly terminated a BIDEN administration. But the primary goal of the crypto world in Washington was to guarantee ambitious legislation that would confirm the status of industry in the American financial system.
The Genius Act was the first bill that picked up momentum. In March, the banking committee 18 to 6 voted to promote legislation, with Mr Gallego and four other Democrats who support it.
It soon became clear that the Stablecoin rules would cross directly with Mr Trump’s company. About two weeks after the committee’s voice, World Liberty announced that it would offer its own Stablecoin, called USD1, who could be extremely profitable for the Trump family.
Companies that spend Stablecoins work in the same way as banks: the emitting earnings earn money by accepting deposits of buyers, giving them coins in exchange and then investing those deposits to generate a return that the companies retain.
Last week, one of the founders of World Liberty announced at a crypto conference that a venture capital company supported by the ABU Dhabi government would use $ 2 billion in USD1 to carry out a large industrial transaction – effectively money in a company led by the US President family.
Recent reporting from the Times on the Abu Dhabi transaction and other conflicts of interests chasing world freedom circulated wide in the Capitol last week. Senate Democrats distributed research memos, referring to those examinations and attacks, the legislation as a vehicle for the Trump family to “benefit from his cryptocurrency schemes” corrupted, “said copies obtained by the Times. Representative Maxine Waters, Democrat from California, Read one of the articles from times aloud for In its entirety during a hearing of the committee last week.
During the Senate Democrats meeting, Mr Schumer said that he was worried about language in the legislation that Tether, a foreign company was aimed at offering by American regulators, to offer stablecoins in the United States without following many of the requirements of the bill, according to congress employees. At Democrats, he insisted on investigating classified briefings that the banking committee had compiled about Tether.
A Tether spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comments. Some details of the meeting were previously reported by Axios.
Senate aids said on Monday that negotiations will try to tackle some of the concerns that Democrats have expressed, since legislators from both parties, including senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat van New York, a co-sponsor of the bill, are looking for a way to move the legislation to Passage.
Mr. Trump has shown no signs that he is being put off. On Monday he placed an illustration of himself with his fist in the air on his social media platform, Truth Social, in which he encouraged his supporters to buy a cryptocurrency called $ Trump, another new company that has generated more than $ 100 million in reimbursements for his family and his partners.
On Monday evening, A Super PAC support Mr. Trump was planned to hold a fundraiser at his Trump National Golf Club in Virginia, sponsored by crypto managers, who were asked to pay $ 1.5 million each to attend.
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