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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would regulate a form of cryptocurrency called Stablecoins, a industry hopes it is the first wave of notes that enhance its legitimacy and reassure consumers.
The fast-growing legislation passed by a 68-30 vote and will be sent to the House for potential revisions, following the 2024 campaign cycle, the cryptocurrency industry ranks the highest among the country’s highest political spenders, highlighting its growing presence in Washington and beyond.
Eighteen Democratic senators crossed the aisle Tuesday to vote with the Republican majority in the 53-47 Senate. Republican Josh Hawley and Rand Paul are the only members of the party who oppose the measure.
This is the second major bipartisan bill this year after the Lake Riley Act oon of Riley Immigration Act in January.
Still, most Democrats oppose the bill. They have raised concerns that the measure would not help President Donald Trump’s personal financial interests in the cryptocurrency space.
“We certainly can’t include everything we want, but it’s a good bipartisan effort,” D-Md. Senator Angela Alsobrooks said. “This is an unregulated area that will now be regulated,” also added Alsobrooks, the bill’s co-sponsor.
Senator Bill Hagerty, the sponsor of the bill, said upstairs in the Senate before the vote that legislation would have a “distant impact” on the financial system, a “paradigm shift development” he believes bringing it into the 21st century.
“With this bill, the U.S. is closer to becoming a global leader in crypto,” Hagerty said.
The bill, known as the Genius Act, will establish guardrails and consumer protections for Stablecoins, a cryptocurrency that is often pegged to the dollar. The acronym stands for “Guide and build national innovation for stable America.”
The bill only needed a simple majority vote to pass after clearing its biggest procedural barriers last week by 68 to 30, while 18 Democrats were with Republicans. But the bill’s resistance is higher than initially expected.
There is a provision in the bill that prohibits members of Congress and their families from profiting from Stablecoins. But even if Trump established a crypto empire from the White House, the ban did not extend to the president and his family.
Last month, the Republican president held a private dinner at his golf club in Virginia, with top investors in the Trump-branded meme coins. His family owns a significant stake in World Liberty Financial, a crypto project that launched its own Stablecoin, USD1.
According to a public financial disclosure released Friday, Trump reported that he earned $57.35 million in token sales in 2024. The meme coins associated with him are estimated to incur $320 million in fees, although the proceeds are distributed among multiple investors.
The government supports the growth of cryptocurrencies and its integration into the economy widely. The vote was ahead of Tuesday’s vote, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged the Senate to pass the bill, saying it could help Stablecoins “to reach a $3.7 trillion market by the end of the decade.”
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is the largest crypto exchange in the United States and a major advocate of the bill – meeting with Trump and praising his early actions on cryptocurrencies. Over the past weekend, Coinbase was one of the more prominent brands to mark the Army’s 250th anniversary in Washington, an event that coincides with Trump’s 79th birthday.
But the cryptocurrency industry stressed that they viewed legislative efforts as bipartisans, pointing out advocates on both sides of the aisle.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (RSS C.) “It’s a product of months of bipartisan work.”
The bill did get into a tough situation in early May, when a group of Senate Democrats previously supported the bill to turn the course and voted to stop it from moving forward. This prompted Senate Republicans, Democrats and the White House to engage in new talks, eventually producing a compromise version expected to win passes on Tuesday.
Alsobrooks said there were “a lot of changes” in the negotiations, “and it was a better option because we were all on the table.”
Before Tuesday’s vote, Republican Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis said she was “okay” when the legislation that came after negotiations landed.
“I’m not excited about it, but that’s OK,” said Loomis, one of the bill’s co-sponsors.
Nevertheless, the bill remains concerned that the president’s conflict of interest remains unresolved – a problem that remains the source of tensions within the Democratic Caucus.
D-Mass. Senator Elizabeth Warren has been one of the most outspoken members of the Senate Banking Committee, warning that the bill created a “super highway” for Trump’s corruption. She also warned that the bill would allow large tech companies such as Amazon and Meta to launch their own stable companies.
Stablecoin legislation still faces several obstacles before reaching the president’s desk. It must clear the narrow Republican majority in the House, and lawmakers may try to bring a broader market structure bill that could make the Senate pass more difficult legislation.
Trump said he hopes to legislate at his desk before Congress takes a break for his August recess (now only 50 days away, he is)