A set of historic crypto regulations failed to advance in the Senate Thursday after the main democrats retained the weekend.
Nicknamed the law on engineering, the bill needed 60 votes to move to the Senate for the final adoption. The final count was 48 in favor and 49 against. Three senators did not vote.
After the vote, the secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, said: “The world looks while the American legislators turn their thumbs.”
The Genius Act aims to create a regulatory framework for stablescoins or digital assets which are set at the value of other assets, such as the US dollar.
But nine key democrats – four of which had previously voted for the bill in committee – said during the weekend that they would not support legislation.
Directed by Senator Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., The Democrats said in a statement that they had “many problems” with the latest version of the bill. They called for stronger provisions to fight against “fighting money laundering, foreign issuers and national security”.
Senator Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., Questions the governor of southern Dakota, Kristi Noem, the candidate of the president elected Donald Trump as an internal security secretary, during his confirmation audience of the Senate for internal security and government affairs in Dirksen Building on Friday January 17, 2025.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty images
The group was made up of meaning. Mark Warner, Virginie, Raphael Warnock, Ga., Lisa Blunt Rochester, del., Catherine Cortez Masto, Nev., Andy Kim, NJ, Ben Ray Luján, Nm, John Hickenlooper, Colorado, and Adam Schiff, California.
“Although we are impatient to continue working with our colleagues to resolve these questions, we could not vote for the cluster if the current version of the bill arrived in the field,” the legislators said in the press release.
