The Senate has voted to advance the GENIUS Act, a bipartisan bill that would establish the first federal framework for regulating cryptocurrencies pegged to real-world assets, known as stablecoins.
Amid interparty disagreement over the bill, 16 Democrats nonetheless joined their Republican colleagues to support the motion. The agreement breaks a two-week logjam after Democrats secured an agreement addressing consumer protections and ethics concerns.
The Senate's 66–32 vote Monday night was a motion to invoke cloture, a procedural step that limits further debate on a bill to 30 hours but that requires 60 votes to advance rather than the simple majority required to pass once the bill is on the floor. The bill was previously delayed when the Senate
Senate leadership typically pursues cloture only when confident they have the votes to advance the legislation — making Monday's vote a strong indicator that the GENIUS Act would pass in the coming weeks. People familiar with the matter said a final floor vote could come as early as this weekend.
The breakthrough comes after a bipartisan cohort — including Sens. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn; Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo.; Mark Warner, D-Va.; Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md.; and Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz. — struck a deal on an amendment. The changes, which were circulated over the weekend, add text to the bill that places ethics restrictions on special government employees — such as White House advisor Elon Musk — and prohibits sitting lawmakers and executive officials from issuing payment stablecoins.
However, a sticking point for some Democrats is that the bill would not restrict private crypto activity by President
Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has opposed the bill, characterizing it as a vehicle for corruption by Trump and his family.
Warner, who has supported the bill, justified his vote by noting the U.S. needs to take the lead on regulating the emerging market in stablecoins.
"Many senators, myself included, have very real concerns about the Trump family's use of crypto technologies to evade oversight, hide shady financial dealings, and personally profit at the expense of everyday Americans," Warner said in a statement. "We have a duty to shine a light on these abuses and stop Donald Trump from exploiting emerging technologies to enrich himself, dodge accountability, and weaken the safeguards that protect American consumers and the rule of law."
"Blockchain technology is here to stay," Warner said. "If American lawmakers don't shape it, others will — and not in ways that serve our interests or democratic values. Innovation in this space is happening, with or without us. We have a responsibility to ensure it happens safely, transparently, and in a way that advances U.S. economic and national security interests. The GENIUS Act will help get us started."
The bill has drawn opposition from a heterogeneous coalition of critics, including consumer protection advocates,
The Independent Community Bankers of America has expressed concern that the bill allows nonbanks and tech companies too much freedom to issue stablecoins, saying their presence could divert $6.6 trillion of deposits away from traditional banks, citing an estimate from the U.S. Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee. The group said tighter restrictions are required on activities like yield-bearing stablecoins, access to Federal Reserve master accounts and commercial firm involvement.
"We are alarmed by the potential economic impact on the availability of local capital and credit under a stablecoin regime,"
The Conference of State Bank Supervisors opposes several provisions in the GENIUS Act that it says would undermine state regulatory authority and safety and soundness. CSBS is particularly concerned that the bill would allow stablecoin issuers to engage in broad financial activities, preempt state powers over nonbank and state-chartered entities, and create legal confusion around consumer protection laws.
"While we support the overarching goal of establishing clarity and regulatory certainty for payments/stablecoins," CSBS wrote in a letter. "We believe the bill, as written, could inadvertently introduce significant risks to financial stability, undermine the critical role of state regulatory authorities, and fall short of providing adequate protection for consumers."
Consumer advocate Better Markets said the bill remains fundamentally flawed despite recent revisions and serves the interests of the crypto industry at consumers' expense.
"The changes are cosmetic, apparently intended to enable sponsors to misleadingly claim that it was 'improved' when it was not," Better Markets said
