Congress is turning to the futuristic form of finance and discussing laws that justify Stablecoins, a specific type of cryptocurrency associated with the US dollar. But lawmakers seeking to bid for this new industry are ignoring allegations of change in the US regulatory system and corruption in the Second Trump administration.
With the joys of Silicon Valley, Big Tech and Wall Street, the Senate appears poised to approve the Genius Act next week or within two weeks. Despite the fierce partisan struggles that define American politics, around 12 democratic senators appear to be ready to lock in almost every Republican and weapons to pass Congress.
Since the New Deal created a modern independent financial regulator, following the model, the law allows the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Treasury and others to draft fine prints to implement the bill. Their work is really important because stubcoins seem to be behind the actual US dollar, unlike cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Only the regulator can ensure that.
Laws usually only provide a framework for regulatory measures. And once Congress had a great logic that gave professional regulators discretion to use their best judgment.
But we live in 2025. The idea of properly regulating new or old finance is surrounded by the current administration, providing old delegations to useless institutions. For generations, financial market regulations relied on independent regulators isolated from economic and political pressures, protecting the integrity of investors’ markets without fear or support.
But President Trump ended the era by undermining the independence of government agencies, fired several regulators, broaching others, and appointing Shikofans. At the same time, Trump’s deregulation enthusiasts revoked existing safeguards, staff from purged agencies and abandoned enforcement.
Trump’s man – Cryptoman – now runs a regulatory authority. SEC Head Paul Atkins ran a company with a fleet of crypto clients. The presidential candidate for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a small crypto regulator, is Brian Quintentz, a lobbyist at Andreesen Horowitz, a venture capital firm with deep-headed cryptocurrency ventures.
Trump himself is now a cryptography kingpin. Selling access to the president via Trump’s memo coin, a collector’s token, has correctly attracted intense criticism. But the Trump family vehicle, World Liberty Financial, has launched something ridiculous that could be vulnerable to foreign glyfts. The Abu Dhabi government-backed company has purchased $2 billion worth of tokens. And late last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission dropped its lawsuit against Vinance. This admitted that in 2023, Vinance turned a blind eye to money laundering and sanctions violations a few days after he listed Trump’s Starbucks for the transaction.
These developments — independent regulators’ distortions into industry obedient creatures, abandoning the Cavaliers of market and investor protection, and the resolve to milk Trump’s presidency for money — call for a new legislative approach that specifically stipulates the regulatory guardrails needed to achieve legislative goals. We’ve surpassed Rubicon, but now lawmakers have to assume that regulators simply acquiesce to industrial and political forces.
Today, Congress cannot simply write law as a tedious instruction. They should provide detailed and binding directives that force regulators to actually do their job. Otherwise, current Trump regulators will never establish the necessary protections the Senate envisions. This is because strict measures could threaten not only the crypto industry but also the president’s own business.
So far, Senate Democrats have settled in tweaking when wholesale revisions were needed. How are customers protected? How do you use Stablecoins to stop crime and money laundering? Can a large tech company become a bank by issuing Stablecoins?
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif) admits little to the shortcomings of the law, noting that Republican supporters have refused to allow reforms to control the way politicians use these and other digital assets for their personal interests. However, Schiff intends to vote for the bill, as well as Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Angela Bloodlooks of Maryland.
While they try to make laws for the future, their heads are stuck in the past, thinking of an era where regulators can trust them. In today’s era, members of Congress need to ensure that cryptocurrency laws include clear, binding normative guardrails, defend the public interest and combat the risks of corruption. Currently, Stablecoin law only includes window dressing. Without a fresh approach, Congress is simply legislating wealth for crypto Titans and Trump.
Patrick Woodall is the managing director of American policy for financial reform.
