Senate Democrats are demanding changes to cryptocurrency legislation pending in Congress, responding partly to growing evidence that the Trump family is using its connections and President Trump’s power to profit from crypto trading.
The pushback intensified late last week after a closed-door meeting among Senate Democrats in which Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader, told colleagues they should not commit to voting for the so-called GENIUS Act, a bill backed by the crypto industry.
For months, the bill had appeared to be gliding toward passage, with support from both parties, and it was scheduled for a procedural vote this week. But in the meeting, Senate Democrats expressed concern that the legislation would directly benefit the Trump family’s crypto business, citing reporting by The New York Times.
Among the concerns the senators raised, according to lawmakers, is that the Trump-affiliated crypto firm, World Liberty Financial, recently secured a deal to take $2 billion in deposits from an Emirati venture fund backed by the government of Abu Dhabi, as The Times reported last week.
“It’s a selling of influence, a conflict of interest, just a massive form of corruption we haven’t witnessed,” Senator Jeff Merkley, Democrat of Oregon, said in an interview, echoing comments he said he made at the meeting. “And it needs to be ended.”
