Despite Majority Vote to Advance Stablecoin Bill, Democrats Plan Amendment to Address Trump's Cryptocurrency Ties

Though a majority of members of the US Senate voted to advance a bill to regulate payment stablecoins on May 20, high-ranking Democrats are planning to propose an amendment to the legislation

A majority of members of the US Senate voted to advance a bill to regulate payment stablecoins.

According to a May 22 Axios report, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senators Elizabeth Warren and Jeff Merkley will file an amendment to the legislation to block the president from profiting from stablecoins.

The vote to advance the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act, or GENIUS Act, came after it failed a procedural vote last week.

“Passing the GENIUS Act without our anti-corruption amendment stamps a Congressional seal of approval on Trump selling access and influence to the highest bidder,” Merkley said in a May 22 X post.

Trump's three sons are involved in the crypto platform World Liberty Financial (WLFI), which launched its USD1 stablecoin in March. Critics have pointed out that the president could continue to personally benefit from legislation that helps recognize stablecoins like USD1 as financial instruments in the US.

Related: US lawmaker introduces anti-corruption bill ahead of Trump’s dinner

An Abu Dhabi-based investment firm said that it would use USD1 to settle a $2-billion investment in Binance, effectively allowing the president’s family to profit from the transaction fees. Democratic lawmakers have already called for an investigation into Trump’s connections to the platform, which was largely dismissed as “flawed” by WLFI co-founder Zach Witkoff.

Stablecoins are just one of many potential conflicts, say Democrats

Merkley and Warren are also planning responses to Trump hosting a dinner at his golf club for up to 220 people who purchased the most significant amounts of his personal memecoin. Merkley is expected to attend a protest organized by the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, in partnership with progressive political organization Our Revolution, outside the Trump venue.

Warren held a press conference with Merkley, Senator Chris Murphy and Public Citizen representatives, calling on Trump to “release the guest list” for the dinner event. Though a few of the potential attendees have publicly announced they were the owners of the wallets who purchased the memecoin and intended to go, the majority were still anonymous at the time of publication.

“What is happening tonight — this private, secret dinner — in which individuals who have put money in Donald Trump’s pocket, get access to him, is maybe the most corrupt of all the corruption,” said Murphy, adding:

Cointelegraph reached out to the White House for comment, but had not received a response by the time of publication.