Trump's crypto problem

The Hill

07-05-2025

Senate leadership is preparing to hold a vote on the GENIUS Act, which would create a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins.
However, a contingent of crypto-friendly Democrats have threatened to vote it down, accusing Republicans of prematurely cutting off negotiations over the bipartisan bill.
The showdown over the stablecoin bill comes as the Trump family's growing portfolio of crypto projects fuel the legislation's opponents, who argue it will allow the president and his family to profit from the industry.
Crypto investors and advocates who were elated by Trump's moves to bolster the industry are now growing concerned.
' Trump's not helping himself,' said Nic Carter, a founding partner at crypto investment firm Castle Island Ventures, adding, 'Everyone I know in crypto is very frustrated by this. It's like a completely unnecessary own goal.'
Trump's close ties to the crypto industry have raised concerns since before he took office.
As the president embraced digital assets on the campaign trail last fall, he and his sons launched their own crypto venture, World Liberty Financial. And shortly before his inauguration, the president and first lady Melania Trump launched meme coins.
Both World Liberty Financial and the president's meme coin have drawn scrutiny once again in recent weeks.
Trump is set to attend a dinner with the top investors in his meme coin later this month. The announcement in April, which encouraged participants to 'hold as much $TRUMP as you can,' caused the price of the token to spike 60 percent.
World Liberty Financial also announced last week that Emirati firm MGX would be using the company's brand-new stablecoin to conduct a $2 billion transaction with crypto exchange Binance.
Democrats have decried the moves as efforts by the president and his family to enrich themselves, calling for ethics investigations into both the meme coin dinner and the World Liberty Financial.
They argue that the meme coin and stablecoin can be used by Trump to improperly profit off his office and by outside actors, including foreign actors, to attempt to buy influence with the president.
The Trump family owns a 60 percent stake in World Liberty Financial, and a company affiliated with the family receives 75 percent of the revenue collected from its coin sales.
The White House has previously downplayed concerns about potential conflicts of interest between Trump and his family crypto businesses, saying the president uses a blind trust to avoid improprieties.
The growing scrutiny surrounding the president and his family's crypto dealings is threatening to upend his administration's efforts to pass long sought legislation providing the industry with greater regulatory clarity.