Last week, the Senate handed over a nearly literal bank to Big Technology. The Genius Act crypto bill allows big tech giants like Amazon, Meta, Google and Apple to own and operate their own Stablecoin, allowing customers to force their currency to use.
In preparing for the vote, many senators were under the false belief that the bill would regulate cryptocurrency. However, sufficient lawmakers were surprised by the report of Trump’s Mimecoin accepting foreign investment, his expensive fundraiser in the crypto industry, and his exclusive dinner and White House tour for his $Trump Memecoin owner.
Big Tech already has unprecedented access to every part of our daily lives.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Angela, co-sponsored by the bill, also voted against the advancement of the law they supported. Senate majority leaders Chuck Schumer and Reuben Gallego protested that Republicans were not working with them to address Democratic concerns. Republicans such as Senators Josh Hawley, John Kennedy and Rand Paul expressed concern about the Basic Bill. And the genius act collapsed, appropriately, like the house of cards where cryptocurrencies are mostly so.
Unfortunately, Senate Republicans are trying again. Damn it, they are pushing for this bill, giving the largest corporations in world history a risky opportunity to run their own financial systems, and quickly competing exclusive powers with banks and the US dollar. For Democrats considering supporting this bill, their vote will have a devastating and lasting impact on our economy.
For almost a century, firewalls have existed between banks and commerce, established by laws like glass. Bakeries cannot own a bank. But the genius act would tear down that firewall and allow businesses to own their own crypto payments (unless they are not) if they are stable, perhaps via cryptocurrencies that are thought to be “stable”).
Big Tech already has unprecedented access to not only places we shop and what we buy, but places we know, where we go, what our kids want, what we’re talking about, what we talk about, how we email and text, and more. And the act of genius will fulfill their wildest monopoly desires. When combined with artificial intelligence algorithms that integrate with products and platforms everywhere, our online experiences are arguably more intrusive and expensive.
It’s not difficult to see why certain members of Congress are being threatened.
Imagine: You’re not investing in Google Coin or Metamoney, so you’re restricting your Gmail account or denying access to Instagram. Alternatively, Amazon will require small business owners (hospitalized competitors) to convert dollars to Bezosbacs to sell the product.
Beyond these scenarios, there are also true national security concerns about cryptocurrency warrants that genius acts have done nothing to deal with, but as Senator Mark Warner correctly pointed out, cryptocurrencies are the primary way for hackers, money launderers, fraudsters, terrorist organizations, and authorized US individuals like Hezbollah and Hamas leaders. It is also a preferred currency for criminals. Of the nearly $17 billion in scams that occurred last year, nearly $10 billion in Crypto is involved, according to the FBI.
It’s not difficult to see why certain members of Congress are being threatened. Crypto Lobby has deep pockets, and openly threatening lawmakers think it’s not pro-cryptic enough. Last year, their super PAC spent $40 million on attack ads against embarrassing codesceptic Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown. He overtook $20 million and lost his seat. PAC leaders have already threatened to primaryize those who opposed the bill.
However, the armor has cinc. Crypto Lobby didn’t expect that his genius would fail. They didn’t expect the public speech of senators from either side of the aisle, nor the cavalry of watchdog organizations, national security and privacy advocates and financial experts to issue warnings. And they didn’t expect the Trump family’s support for the crypto would be on display for all the mistakes in the industry.
The collapse of votes last week means that money isn’t the only thing that drives things in Washington. But as pro-cryptic Republicans insist on trying again, Democrats must clearly state Big Tech’s favor at the expense of American privacy and financial security.
