Connect with us

Crypto

Senate to try again to advance crypto bill after Democratic opposition tanked first vote

Published

on

Senate to try again to advance crypto bill after Democratic opposition tanked first vote

Washington — The Senate is expected to take a key procedural vote Monday evening on a crypto regulation bill after Democratic opposition tanked an initial attempt to advance the measure earlier this month amid concern over ties between the digital asset industry and the Trump family.

The first-of-its-kind legislation, known as the GENIUS Act, would create a regulatory framework for stablecoins — a type of cryptocurrency tied to the value of an asset like the U.S. dollar. After the measure advanced out of the Senate Banking Committee with bipartisan support in March, Senate GOP leadership first brought the measure to the floor earlier this month. But the measure had lost Democratic support in the intervening weeks amid concerns about President Trump and his family’s business ventures involving cryptocurrency. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the upper chamber would try again to advance the legislation on Monday, while criticizing Democrats for blocking the measure from moving forward earlier this month, saying “this bill reflects the bipartisan consensus on this issue, and it’s had an open and bipartisan process since the very beginning.”

Thune, a South Dakota Republican, argued that Senate Democrats “inexplicably chose to block this legislation” earlier this month, while adding that “I’m hoping that the second time will be the charm.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune speaks at a press conference with other members of Senate Republican leadership on May 13, 2025.

Advertisement

Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images


Since the failed vote earlier this month, negotiators returned to the table. And ahead of the procedural vote Monday, the measure saw backing from at least one Democrat as Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia advocated for the measure, calling it a “meaningful step forward,” though he added that it’s “not perfect.”

“The stablecoin market has reached nearly $250 billion and the U.S. can’t afford to keep standing on the sidelines,” Warner said in a statement. “We need clear rules of the road to protect consumers, defend national security, and support responsible innovation.”

Still, Warner pointed to concerns he said are shared among many senators about the Trump family’s “use of crypto technologies to evade oversight, hide shady financial dealings, and personally profit at the expense of everyday Americans,” after it was announced earlier this month that an Abu Dhabi-backed firm will invest billions of dollars in a Trump family-linked crypto firm, World Liberty Financial. 

Advertisement

Warner said senators “have a duty to shine a light on these abuses,” but he argued “we cannot allow that corruption to blind us to the broader reality: blockchain technology is here to stay.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, has been among the leading voices advocating for adding anti-corruption reforms to the legislation. Warren has outlined a handful of issues with the bill, saying that it puts consumers at risk and enables corruption. In a speech Monday on the Senate floor, Warren said her concerns have not been addressed and urged her colleagues to vote against the updated version. 

“While a strong stablecoin bill is the best possible outcome, this weak bill is worse than no bill at all,” Warren said. “A bill that meaningfully strengthens oversight of the stablecoin market is worth enacting. A bill that turbocharges the stablecoin market, while facilitating the president’s corruption and undermining national security, financial stability, and consumer protection is worse than no bill at all.” 

Whether the measure can advance in the upper chamber this time around remains to be seen. The measure fell short of the 60 votes necessary to move forward earlier this month, with all Senate Democrats and two Republicans — Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Josh Hawley of Missouri — opposing. Paul has reservations about overregulation, while Hawley voted against the bill in part because it doesn’t prohibit big tech companies from creating their own stablecoins.

Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, who sponsored the legislation, defended the measure on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Monday. He outlined that a lack of regulatory framework, which the bill would provide, makes for uncertainty — and results in innovative technology moving offshore. The Tennessee Republicans urged that “this will fix it,” while arguing that the bill has strong bipartisan support.

Advertisement

“We have broad policy agreement, Democrats and Republicans,” Hagerty said. “The question is can we get past the partisan politics and allow us to actually have a victory.”

Advertisement

Crypto

$11T Vanguard Lays out ‘What Investors Need to Know’ as Crypto ETF Doors Blast Open

Published

on

T Vanguard Lays out ‘What Investors Need to Know’ as Crypto ETF Doors Blast Open
Vanguard has published new guidance outlining what investors need to know about crypto exposure, pairing expanded access to third-party digital-asset funds with a push for clearer understanding of product structure, risks and how these holdings fit into broader portfolios.
Continue Reading

Crypto

The Best Cryptocurrency to Buy With $100 Right Now | The Motley Fool

Published

on

The Best Cryptocurrency to Buy With 0 Right Now | The Motley Fool

Bitcoin is still the best crypto investment for cautious investors.

Bitcoin‘s (BTC +2.34%) price hit an all-time high of $126,198 on Oct. 6. That marked a gain of more than 30% from the beginning of the year. But as of this writing, it trades at about $85,000 — and it’s declined about 9% year to date. Bitcoin gave up all of its gains for the year as the unpredictable macro environment drove more investors to take profits and retreat from the speculative crypto market. A lack of clear near-term catalysts likely exacerbated that pressure.

But despite those near-term challenges, I think Bitcoin is still the best cryptocurrency to nibble on in this volatile market. I wouldn’t invest my life savings in Bitcoin, but I think a modest $100 investment — which would only get you about 0.0011 Bitcoin right now — could still be churned into a few thousand dollars as some longer-term catalysts kick in.

Image source: Getty Images.

What are Bitcoin’s long-term catalysts?

Bitcoin is the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency. With a market cap of $1.7 trillion, it’s also the third most valuable commodity after gold ($29.3 trillion) and silver ($3.2 trillion). Three long-term catalysts drove it to the top of the crypto market. First, it launched its coin in 2009, back when the concept of cryptocurrencies still seemed like a fantasy. That first-mover advantage helped it stay ahead of the other blockchains and tokens that followed its lead.

Advertisement
Bitcoin Stock Quote

Today’s Change

(2.34%) $2013.86

Current Price

$88092.00

Second, Bitcoin was mined with an energy-intensive proof-of-work mechanism that required its miners to solve cryptographic puzzles with their computers to earn the coins as rewards. Every four years, the rewards for mining are cut in half with a scheduled halving — so it becomes increasingly difficult to mine the token for a profit.

Bitcoin also has a fixed maximum supply of 21 million coins, and 19.9 million of those have already been mined. The last Bitcoin is expected to be mined by 2140. That scheduled scarcity makes it more similar to gold and silver than other cryptocurrencies.

Lastly, Bitcoin is attracting a lot of attention from retail, institutional, corporate, and government investors. The approvals of its first spot price exchange-traded funds (ETFs) made it easier to invest in Bitcoin, and big financial institutions like BlackRock and tech companies like Strategy are still accumulating the token.

Advertisement

El Salvador and the Central African Republic already recognize Bitcoin as legal tender, and more inflation-wracked countries could follow that lead. The Trump administration also proposed the creation of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve — to store the government’s seized Bitcoins and use tax-free methods to accumulate more Bitcoin — earlier this year. That firm support indicates that Bitcoin, which is priced in U.S. dollars, could become a global hedge against inflation.

Why should investors tune out the near-term noise?

Bitcoin remains a divisive investment for the bulls and bears. Strategy’s co-founder and Executive Chairman Michael Saylor expects Bitcoin’s price to reach $21 million by 2046, but Nobel Prize-winning economist Eugene Fam believes it will go to zero within the next decade.

I believe both arguments are too extreme. Bitcoin has already gained too much momentum among the big investors to go back to zero, but soaring 23,000% to $21 million would boost its market cap to nearly $416 trillion. That’s nearly 10 of today’s Nvidias, the world’s most valuable company.

For Bitcoin’s price to soar that high, the U.S. dollar might need to crash. That hyperinflation probably wouldn’t occur unless the U.S. economy collapsed in a cataclysmic event.

So instead of betting on a huge global depression, I believe Bitcoin will land somewhere between those two targets. If we go back 20 years, gold was trading at just $477 per ounce. Today, it trades at about $4,200 per ounce. So if Bitcoin is actually digital gold — as many of its proponents claim — it could rise at least 10-fold during the next two decades. That makes it a good cryptocurrency to invest in today, even if it goes through some wild swings during the next few years.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Crypto

Ripple Wins Expanded MAS License to Broaden Regulated Crypto Services

Published

on

Ripple Wins Expanded MAS License to Broaden Regulated Crypto Services
Ripple’s expanded Singapore license clears the way for broader regulated crypto payment services, sharpening its push to deliver faster, more efficient digital asset infrastructure across a region central to Asia Pacific’s accelerating blockchain adoption.
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending