The Senate voted to move forward with consideration of legislation to create a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins Monday night, bringing the key crypto bill one step closer to final passage.
Sixteen Democrats joined all but two Republicans in voting to end debate on a motion to proceed on the GENIUS Act.
The vote marks a reversal for the group of more than a dozen Democrats, who joined with the rest of their colleagues to vote down the legislation earlier this month amid a dispute with Republicans.
“Tonight’s vote is a welcome and long-overdue step toward asserting U.S. leadership in digital assets,” Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said in a statement. “After playing politics, I’m glad many of my Democratic colleagues have returned to the table and are supporting a bipartisan product they helped shape.”
“By moving forward on the GENIUS Act, we are one step closer to delivering a regulatory framework that keeps innovation in America, protects consumers, and safeguards our national security,” he continued.
A contingent of crypto-friendly Democrats, several of whom had voted the GENIUS Act out of the Senate Banking Committee, pulled their support for the bill earlier this month after Senate leadership moved to expedite a floor vote.
Democrats accused Republicans of cutting negotiations short, arguing they still had numerous concerns with the legislation and could not vote for it in its current form.
After two weeks of negotiations, the two sides reached an agreement on new language, with crypto-friendly Democrats touting “major victories” on anti-money laundering, national security and consumer protection provisions.
They also highlighted new restrictions aimed at blocking Big Tech firms from launching their own stablecoins.
However, the changes did not prove sufficient for some Democratic holdouts. Senate Banking Democratic staff, under the leadership of longtime crypto critic and ranking member Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), argued in a memo last week that the bill “paves the way for more Trump crypto corruption” and that its Big Tech restrictions don’t go far enough.
President Trump’s growing crypto portfolio has complicated efforts by his administration and Republican lawmakers to get key crypto legislation across the finish line.
Trump is set to have dinner with the top investors in his meme coin later this week. The token, which the president launched shortly before inauguration, has traded higher in recent weeks as investors competed for one of 220 coveted spots at the private dinner.
World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture launched by Trump and his sons, also announced earlier this month that its new stablecoin would be used to conduct a $2 billion transaction between Emirati firm MGX and crypto exchange Binance.
Democrats have raised concerns that the president is using the various crypto ventures to profit off his office while also exposing the federal government to potential foreign influence.
These concerns prompted House Democrats to walk out of a hearing on market structure legislation earlier this month.
Market structure legislation aims to clarify how the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) split up the regulation of the entire digital asset market.
It represents the second key piece to the Trump administration’s legislative agenda for the crypto industry, alongside the stablecoin bill.
