A razor-thin 48-49 Senate vote on Thursday torpedoed the GENIUS Act, and Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse says America just ceded the stablecoin race. He blasted lawmakers on X, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that each day’s delay hands global rivals the billions pouring into dollar-pegged tokens.
“Stablecoins are exploding globally for their real-world applications (the sheer amount of recent announcements across crypto, fintech, and traditional finance should indicate as such),” Garlinghouse said.
“The sooner that the US can pass workable, clear rules, the faster it reaps the benefits of this technology,” he added.
Introduced by Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) in February, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act was co-sponsored by Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) and Subcommittee on Digital Assets Chair Cynthia Lummis (R-WY).
Supporters of the legislation argue that the GENIUS Act would have established a clear regulatory roadmap for stablecoins and strengthened the dominance of the U.S. dollar.
“I’m deeply disappointed that we were unable to pass this important, bipartisan-crafted stablecoin legislation today,” Lummis said in a statement. “Make no mistake, digital assets are the future and America must lead the way.”
Trump’s Crypto Ventures Under Scrutiny
The GENIUS Act’s failure coincides with increased scrutiny of U.S. President Donald Trump’s ties to the crypto sector, particularly by members of the Democratic opposition.
Critics claim that the launch of the Trump-affiliated World Liberty Financial’s USD1 stablecoin may cause conflicts of interest when drafting a regulatory framework for this particular kind of digital asset.
Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) have urged Jamieson Greer, the acting director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, to launch an “urgent inquiry” into the launch of Trump’s namesake meme coin, $TRUMP, over potential ethics concerns.
“The American people deserve the unwavering assurance that access to the presidency is not being offered for sale to the highest bidder in exchange for the President’s own financial gain,” the U.S. lawmakers said in an April 25 letter.
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