Trump-Backed Bill to Regulate Cryptocurrency Fails in the Senate After Republicans Couldn't Find Enough Democrats to Overlook the President's Growing Crypto Empire

A Trump-backed bill to regulate cryptocurrencies failed to advance in the Senate on Thursday after Republicans couldn't find enough Democrats to overlook the president's growing crypto empire and go along with it.

A Trump-backed bill to regulate cryptocurrencies failed to advance in the Senate on Thursday after Republicans couldn't find enough Democrats to go along with it.

The so-called GENIUS Act would provide a federal framework for stablecoins, a type of crypto pegged to other digital assets like the U.S. dollar. The industry spent tens of millions of dollars on pro-crypto candidates and poured millions more into lobbying firms to support such a bill.

It had bipartisan support and was on track to be included in a must-pass bill later this summer. But the president's crypto conflicts caused nine Democrats to put the brakes on it. They cited a New York Times investigation of a crypto business founded by Trump and his three sons and its $2 billion deal with a foreign government-backed venture fund. The business, World Liberty Financial, has begun offering stablecoins that could generate tens of millions of dollars a year in revenue for the Trumps and their business partners, the Times reported. One of their partners is Steve Witkoff, Trump's longtime friend and Middle East special envoy.

Democrats also said they wanted the bill to address “anti-money laundering, foreign issuers, and national security,” CNBC reported. Those who objected to it included Sens. Ruben Gallego, Mark Warner, Raphael Warnock, Lisa Blunt Rochester, Catherine Cortez Masto, Andy Kim, Ben Ray Luján, John Hickenlooper and Adam Schiff.

After the 48-49 vote, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a post that lawmakers "missed a once-in-a-generation opportunity to expand dollar dominance and U.S. influence in financial innovation."

"The world is watching while American lawmakers twiddle their thumbs," he added. "Senators who voted to stonewall U.S. ingenuity today face a simple choice: Either step up and lead or watch digital asset innovation move offshore."

The outcome likely means that Trump, who has touted crypto throughout his 2024 campaign after criticizing it as “not money” in 2019, won't be able to deliver the industry one of its biggest priorities this summer as expected.

In the meantime, Trump is continuing to promote his own crypto ventures. On Monday, he touted his $TRUMP meme coin and an upcoming gala that offers the top coin holders access to him.

Those with the biggest balances can attend an “intimate private dinner” with Trump at his golf club outside Washington, D.C., this month and tour the White House, according to the coin's website. The news prompted the coin to surge over 50% and boosted its total market value to $2.7 billion, NBC News reported. The Trump Organization and its affiliates control most of the token supply, according to the website.

Around 54,000 wallets have bought the coin since the promotion began, according to CNBC. And according to Bloomberg, more than half of the top holders used foreign exchanges, which suggests they are based outside the U.S.

The coin hasn't been profitable for most of the 2 million accounts that have purchased it since it launched in January. According to media reports on Wednesday, about 764,000 have lost money, while 58 accounts made more than $10 million apiece.

Melania Trump announced her own meme coin a few days after her husband's.

The president's crypto interests extend into other investments. Trump Media & Technology needs his administration's approval to move forward with its plan to offer bitcoin exchange-traded funds as part of Truth.Fi, its new financial services firm.

Trump started delivering on his pro-crypto pledges soon after he was inaugurated. He issued an executive order and created a task force to boost crypto, appointed a crypto advocate as head of the Securities and Exchange Commission — the regulatory agency that oversees crypto — and proposed a "strategic crypto reserve" for the government to purchase and hold digital tokens.

His administration has also stripped federal agencies charged with investigating crypto firms and enforcing rules, and it has dropped Biden-era cases against top crypto firms including Coinbase, Ripple and others.

And according to the Times, Trump has dismissed ethical concerns about his crypto empire.

"I went into a business, World Liberty, a long time ago. It's a great business, doing fantastically well, and it's a factor in my decision to run for a second term,” Trump told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday.

"I started this business, World Liberty, a long, long time ago, and it has nothing to do with the campaign, other than the fact that I'm interested in new forms of currency and wouldn't mind putting my name on something new and great," he added.

Asked if he's profiting personally from the business, Trump said he hadn't looked.

“Look, if I own stock in