Senate stablecoin bill advances amid cries of betrayal, corruption
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The U.S. Senate is moving forward with its stablecoin legislation despite accusations that Senate leadership reneged on promises to allow an open amendment process.
On June 11, the Senate voted 68-30 to invoke cloture on the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, legislation intended to regulate the use of so-called 'payment stablecoins.' The vote, which mirrored the 68-30 cloture vote conducted last month, approves the revised text filed by Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) on June 9.
GENIUS will now head to the Senate floor for further debate and the extremely unlikely possibility of further amending. A final vote could come later this week but appears more likely to occur early next week.
On June 9, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) filed an 'amendment tree' that required unanimous support for any additional amendments to GENIUS, effectively blocking further revisions to the text. Senators who were opposed to GENIUS as written had little recourse beyond engaging in performative (and ultimately impotent) outrage on Wednesday.
The brief debate preceding the vote saw Republican senators urge their colleagues to vote 'aye' to ensure proper regulation of stablecoin activity. However, many Democrats railed against President Donald Trump's ever-widening crypto venture portfolio, which includes the USD1 stablecoin issued by the Trump-controlled decentralized finance (DeFi) project World Liberty Financial (WLF).
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), who has introduced legislation to limit Trump's ability to profit off his digital asset ventures, referenced the Abu Dhabi state-run investment firm MGX buying $2 billion worth of USD1 in early May. Merkley noted that two weeks later, Trump was in Abu Dhabi, where he announced he was waiving restrictions on the export of advanced U.S.-made AI chips. Merkley called this apparent quid pro quo 'the Mount Everest of corruption.'
Merkley said the president has 'planted a 'government for sale' sign on the White House lawn and individuals and foreign governments are funneling money into his pocket and his family's pocket in order to gain access and influence.'
Merkley also took Thune to task for blocking GENIUS amendments after promising an open amendment process. Merkley pointed out that senators had voted on earlier motions to advance GENIUS with the understanding that their amendments would be properly considered. Merkley called Thune's about-turn 'a breach of trust that is simply wrong in this body.'
Sen. Michael Bennett (D-CO), who'd filed a GENIUS amendment to prevent elected officials from issuing their digital assets, lamented the fact that some of his Democratic colleagues planned to vote in favor of GENIUS despite the fact that there was 'not a single amendment voted on as part of this bill.'
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), a GENIUS co-sponsor, told her colleagues that while she found the president's crypto ventures 'extremely unhelpful' and she 'would love to ban' his activity, her desire for stablecoin regulation was greater than her disdain for Trump's efforts to line his pockets with crypto cash.
The obligatory Tether reference
The lack of amendments to GENIUS leaves a rather large loophole in place for 'foreign' stablecoin issuers like Tether—the issuer of the market-leading USDT stablecoin—who wish to issue their tokens in the U.S. while avoiding the regulatory restrictions imposed on domestic issuers.
GENIUS only requires foreign issuers to comply with law enforcement requests, while it's left up to the Treasury Secretary to designate a foreign issuer as non-compliant. Moreover, foreign issuers can get a pass if the Treasury concludes that the jurisdiction in which the issuer is based has 'a regulatory and supervisory regime … comparable to' the regime envisioned by GENIUS.
In some unfortunate timing for GENIUS supporters, Monday saw the Department of Justice (DoJ) file charges against Russian national Iurii Gugnin for using his fintech firm Evita to launder over half a billion dollars on behalf of sanctioned Russian individuals and entities.
Gugnin came to the U.S. mere months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent imposition of economic sanctions on Russia by the U.S. and other Western nations. The funds Gugnin laundered allowed Russian firms to acquire prohibited technologies, including those used by Russia's state-owned nuclear operator.
As the DoJ notes, during an 18-month period ending January 2025, 'Gugnin used Evita to facilitate the movement of approximately $530 million through the U.S. financial system, most of which he received in the form of a cryptocurrency stablecoin known as Tether.'
Tether representatives told the Wall Street Journal that the company 'unequivocally condemns the illegal use of stablecoins.' Nonetheless, USDT remains the digital asset of choice for criminals worldwide.
The same day that Gugnin was charged, a different branch of the DoJ reported guilty pleas by five individuals who admitted laundering funds for a Cambodia-based scam operator. The scammers convinced their U.S. victims to convert their dollars into USDT and forward it to the Bahamas-based Deltec Bank, one of Tether's early banking partners.
On June 5, the DoJ filed a civil forfeiture complaint against North Korean nationals who tricked U.S. firms into hiring them for remote work. The North Koreans were paid primarily via stablecoins, including USDT and USDC, the latter issued by Circle (NASDAQ: CRCL), which were duly laundered and forwarded to the North Korean government.
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Trump family flying too close to the crypto Sun?
GENIUS Act's forward progress came the day after two House of Representatives committees advanced their chamber's digital asset market structure legislation (CLARITY). All told, there have been worse weeks for U.S. crypto supporters, but not everyone is convinced the legislative tide has officially turned. On Wednesday, Decrypt published an article featuring quotes from anonymous 'top crypto lobbyists' expressing pessimism about market structure legislation's chances of passing Congress this year. One lobbyist said, 'Anyone who disagrees is either delusional or stupid.'
The cause for this concern? 'The president's business dealings in crypto while in office.' Singling out the Trump family's WLF, the lobbyist claimed, 'These people, they hate us. They announce a new product every time there's a key vote.'
The lobbyist noted that while the House committees were marking up CLARITY, Eric Trump was tweeting about USD1's trading volume hitting new highs, while Don Jr. was retweeting WLF tweets about similar USD1 accomplishments.
As if on cue, Wednesday saw Eric tweet his thanks to a tweet by Justin Sun, founder of the TRON blockchain. Sun's tweet celebrated the first minting of USD1 on TRON. Sun's tweet also brought praise from WLF's official X account, which thanked Sun for his support.
Sun is a highly controversial figure who was appointed a WLF advisor after purchasing $75 million worth of WLF's governance token WLFI. Sun also purchased over $19 million worth of the $TRUMP memecoin, making him the token's top holder and ensuring his spot at last month's Trump-hosted gala dinner for the 220 biggest $TRUMP whales.
Amidst all these Trump crypto cash transfers, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 'paused' its civil complaint against Sun. In fairness, the SEC has halted nearly all its civil litigation against digital asset operators, but as they say, the optics here aren't great. And they could get much worse.
On June 10, Forbes reported on a letter sent to a New York court last month by an independent monitor into the Trump Organization, the umbrella group for the president's business operations. The letter noted a Trump Organization entity (DT Marks LLC) that handled its WLF dealings and that 'a portion of this entity would be sold to a third party.'
The letter offered no hints as to who/what this third party might be, nor what size of a stake in DT Marks they may have acquired. Forbes theorized that Sun may have been the third party, and while it offered no proof to support this theory, neither the White House, the Trump Org, WLF, nor Sun himself seemed eager to respond to Forbes' inquiries.
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Bullish on IPOs
In non-Trump stablecoin news, Circle closed out Wednesday's trading on the Nasdaq up 10.7% to $117.20 after nearly dipping below $100 on Tuesday. The GENIUS vote may have put some wind in Circle's sails, but Wednesday's close was well off the $138 peak the stock enjoyed last Friday, its second day of trading on the Nasdaq.
Circle's impressive debut had already convinced the Winklevoss twins to file IPO paperwork for their Gemini digital asset exchange, and now rival exchange Bullish is getting in on this action.
On June 10, the Financial Times broke the news that the Peter Thiel-backed Bullish Global had confidentially filed its IPO paperwork with the SEC 'in recent weeks.' Confidential filings allow companies to get the IPO ball rolling without having to immediately disclose their financial data to the public.
Jefferies Financial Group will act as lead underwriter, confirming February's rumors that Bullish had engaged Jefferies to explore the possibility of a public floatation. A 2021 effort to go public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) failed to launch as rising interest rates did a number on stock valuations, and the onset of 'crypto winter' the following year reduced investors' appetite for digital asset firms (Circle also cancelled its original IPO plans that year).
Bullish is ranked 12th in terms of trading volume on CoinGecko's list of centralized exchanges (three places ahead of Gemini).
It remains to be seen if the Kraken exchange might now accelerate its own IPO plans. In March, Bloomberg reported that the company was targeting a Q1 2026 listing, but who knows what the vibe around digital assets might be by then? Particularly if the Trumps continue to expand their burgeoning crypto interests.
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CFPB director accuses Trump of 'dismantling' enforcement efforts
On June 10, Reuters reported that Cara Petersen, acting enforcement director at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), had resigned in protest of the Trump administration's efforts to hobble the agency's work. Petersen issued a scathing email on her way out the door, saying the Trump administration 'has no intention to enforce the law in any meaningful way.'
Petersen, a 15-year CFPB veteran, said, 'Never before have I seen the ability to perform our core mission so under attack.' Petersen said it was 'devastating to see the bureau's enforcement function being dismantled through thoughtless reductions in staff, inexplicable dismissals of cases, and terminations of negotiated settlements that let wrongdoers off the hook.'
The CFPB has been under attack by big tech firms for the past couple of years, with crypto execs like Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) CEO Brian Armstrong erroneously accusing the CFPB of being 'unconstitutional.' Armstrong's view may have been influenced by Coinbase's notoriously poor customer service, which has led to over 8,200 customer complaints filed against Coinbase with the CFPB.
Formed in 2010 in the wake of the global financial crisis, the CFPB has delivered nearly $20 billion in relief to U.S. consumers. However, since Trump was sworn into office in January, the CFPB has been dropping cases almost as fast as the SEC dropped its pursuit of crypto firms.
Less than a week before Trump's inauguration, two tech sector lobby groups filed suit against the CFPB, challenging its ability to scrutinize fintech companies. By April, both the House and Senate had revoked the CFPB's ability to monitor tech firms that process digital payments.
Proponents of legislation like GENIUS and CLARITY claim the bills will establish sorely needed guardrails that will help protect consumers. However, the federal government is systematically defanging nearly all the agencies that are meant to enforce those guardrails.
The CFPB is being neutered, the SEC appears disinterested in policing crypto, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)—which under CLARITY will be given the primary role of regulating crypto—is still awaiting confirmation of its new chairman. But even when Brian Quintenz finally takes his seat at the head of the CFTC table, he'll find four empty chairs where commissioners are supposed to be sitting.
There's no question that crypto operators love their newfound freedom from oversight. Whether their customers find the new environment to their liking is very much an open question.
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Watch: Breaking down solutions to blockchain regulation hurdles
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President Trump addressed the nation on Saturday night after a military strike on Iran that he said 'completely and totally obliterated' the country's three major nuclear enrichment facilities. The full remarks from the president are below: Thank you very much. A short time ago, the U.S. military carried out massive, precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime. Fordo, Natanz and Esfahan. Everybody heard those names for years as they built this horribly destructive enterprise. Our objective was the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world's number one state sponsor of terror. Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not. Future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier. For 40 years, Iran has been saying. Death to America, death to Israel. They have been killing our people, blowing off their arms, blowing off their legs, with roadside bombs. That was their specialty. We lost over 1,000 people and hundreds of thousands throughout the Middle East, and around the world have died as a direct result of their hate in particular. So many were killed by their general, Qassim Soleimani. I decided a long time ago that I would not let this happen. It will not continue. I want to thank and congratulate Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. We worked as a team like perhaps no team has ever worked before, and we've gone a long way to erasing this horrible threat to Israel. I want to thank the Israeli military for the wonderful job they've done. And most importantly, I want to congratulate the great American patriots who flew those magnificent machines tonight, and all of the United States military on an operation the likes of which the world has not seen in many, many decades. Hopefully, we will no longer need their services in this capacity. I hope that's so. I also want to congratulate the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan 'Razin' Caine, spectacular general, and all of the brilliant military minds involved in this attack. With all of that being said, this cannot continue. There will be either peace, or there will be tragedy for Iran, far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days. Remember, there are many targets left. Tonight's was the most difficult of them all, by far, and perhaps the most lethal. But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill. Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes. There's no military in the world that could have done what we did tonight. Not even close. There has never been a military that could do what took place just a little while ago. Tomorrow, General Caine, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will have a press conference at 8 a.m. at the Pentagon. And I want to just thank everybody. And, in particular, God. I want to just say, we love you, God, and we love our great military. Protect them. God bless the Middle East. God bless Israel and God bless America. Thank you very much. Thank you.
