Progressive groups rally opposition to industry-backed crypto bill on the verge of passing the Senate

The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins, or GENIUS Act, had been on a glide path toward Senate passage earlier this month

Progressive groups are rallying to block an industry-backed crypto bill that is nearing passage in the Senate thanks in part to Democratic support.

The legislation, known as the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins, or GENIUS Act, had been sailing smoothly earlier this month until Democrats baulked at the prospect of President Donald Trump profiting personally from stablecoins.

After a vote failed, the GENIUS Act’s backers regrouped and adjusted the text, and now the Senate is set to pass the bill this week, with a procedural vote as soon as Monday evening.

Progressive groups, including Indivisible and Americans for Financial Reform, have been circulating petitions in opposition to the bill, while a new organization called Democracy Defenders Action, co-founded by former White House counsel Norm Eisen, is writing to senators to urge them to vote no.

“As drafted, the GENIUS Act would enact a regulatory framework for the issuance and regulation of stablecoins,” Eisen and DDA director Virginia Canter wrote in a Friday letter seen by HuffPost. “Yet, it does not address President Trump’s massive conflicts of interest arising from stablecoins issued by a company in which he and his family have a large financial stake.”

Stablecoins are a type of digital asset that has a fixed value, making them more useful for transactions than memecoins or Bitcoin. The GENIUS Act would create regulations governing what sorts of reserves stablecoins issuers must hold to prevent panics like the one that led to the collapse of the stablecoin Terra in 2022.

But the bill’s significance goes beyond stablecoins. Both the measure’s backers in the crypto industry and its detractors elsewhere see it as a first step toward cementing crypto in the U.S. financial system and bestowing the fruits of the industry’s massive investments in political campaigns. Both the House and Senate versions of the bill passed with bipartisan support.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has been leading opposition in the Senate, arguing that a vote for the bill is a vote for Trump to continue his corrupt sell of his office.

“This administration isn't interested in legislation that serves the American people. They're interested in legislation that serves the president's family business ventures — and this administration will go to any lengths to silence any mention of the president's conflicts of interest,” she said in a statement to HuffPost.

In addition to his involvement in a stablecoin, the president is also selling Trump-branded memecoins, which are set to be sold out this week. Top buyers of the coins will be invited to a private dinner and reception with Trump at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. Investors in the Trump coin have said that they view the investment as a way of engaging with and influencing the president.

According to Warren’s office, the latest draft of the legislation still lacks language forbidding the president from profiting personally from crypto while in office.

The bill can’t pass without support from Democrats. Sens. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) have reportedly been involved in negotiations with Republicans on changes to the legislation.

Another complaint about the GENIUS Act is that it would allow big tech companies to create stablecoins of their own, which opponents fear would give them too much economic power. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) voted against the bill for that reason.

“The GENIUS Act is a catastrophic bill that would allow billionaires like Donald Trump and Elon Musk to create, market, and profit from risky stablecoins, all with barely any federal oversight,” Americans for Financial Reform said in its petition. “If it passed, the bill would legalize digital currencies backed by shady foreign investors, enable surveillance of American consumers, and strip away financial safeguards we all rely on.”