The Trump family's growing cryptocurrency ventures are complicating bipartisan efforts to pass the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act

The Trump family’s growing cryptocurrency ventures are complicating bipartisan efforts to pass the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act in the U.S. Senate, sources familiar with the matter told Blockworks.

The bill, which is designed to regulate stablecoins, is being threatened by a memecoin linked to the Trump family and a $2 billion investment from Abu Dhabi’s holding company into Binance.

The House passed a version of the stablecoin bill in May, but the Senate is struggling to finalize its own legislation despite months of discussion.

The Trump family’s World Liberty Financial (WLF) project, which issued the USD 1 stablecoin that has a $2.1 billion market value, is a major topic of concern among Senate Democrats, according to one aide.

The Senate’s stablecoin bill includes rules about the ethics and law for Congress members and top officials, but a Democratic aide said that these rules don’t apply to the president, vice president or their families.

Some individuals are concerned that President Donald Trump and his family are profiting personally from cryptocurrency projects. Senator Elizabeth Warren and other Democrats want to update the stablecoin bill to prevent presidents from being able to make a profit from crypto.

They argue that Trump’s earnings could factor into his decisions or create an appearance of improper influence in his role as president.

“We’re working to try to get there, but it’s a huge priority for Democrats, especially given the administration’s actions or lack thereof on anti-money laundering and foreign investment matters,” the aide said.

Democrats on the Senate banking committee have raised concerns about the administration’s handling of foreign investment in the U.S. and the government’s ability to police crypto-related financial crimes.

These concerns led to a stalemate in the Senate, which is threatening to derail the stablecoin bill.

“We’re still in discussion to try to get language that hits both sides of the aisle and gets the bill signed by the president,” Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis, a bill sponsor, said.

To settle a dispute between Democrats and Republicans over the Federal Trade Commission’s authority to regulate stablecoins, the House bill passed with an amendment that Lummis said she is considering.

But the Trump family’s crypto endeavors and the Binance deal may pose bigger problems for the bill’s passage.

WLF recently announced that USD 1 was used in a $2 billion investment from Abu Dhabi’s MGX into Binance, which had previously pleaded guilty in 2023 to violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws and sanctions.

The deal includes money from a fund that is being led by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the brother of the UAE’s president.

This has led to further concerns about whether the U.S. is properly regulating these crypto deals.

Democrats on the Senate banking committee are worried about Trump’s crypto businesses and foreign investments. They are trying to introduce stricter regulations to prevent conflicts of interest, such as the president making decisions that could benefit his crypto businesses.

If these concerns are not fixed at the right time, the stablecoin bill might not get enough votes to pass in the Senate.