As the Senate fast-tracks the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act—a bill designed to regulate stablecoins—Senator Bernie Sanders is warning that the legislation is part of a sweeping effort to “enrich Trump and his billionaire backers.” Sanders’ office has sounded the alarm about the bill’s implications for financial stability, transparency, and executive branch corruption.
“Under the Trump administration, we have seen a coordinated effort to boost the cryptocurrency industry to directly benefit President Trump and his oligarch allies,” Sanders said Tuesday, one day before his scheduled conversation with financial policy experts. The event, streamed live on Sanders’ social media channels, features Sacha Haworth of the Tech Oversight Project and Corey Frayer of the Consumer Federation of America.
The GENIUS Act, introduced by the GOP-led Senate and previously enjoying some bipartisan support, has now come under scrutiny from several Democrats, including Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Jeff Merkley. Warren and Merkley are introducing a countermeasure—the End Crypto Corruption Act—that would bar elected officials and their families from issuing digital assets like stablecoins.
The GENIUS Act’s recent controversy is tied not only to policy, but to deepening concerns over Trump’s personal financial entanglements with cryptocurrency. According to Sanders’ office, the bill “threatens the stability of our financial system” and would “make it easier for President Trump and his family to continue to engage in corrupt dealmaking enabled through their cryptocurrency, to the great benefit of themselves and their tech oligarch backers.”
One flashpoint emerged this week when Trump promoted a private gala dinner for top holders of his meme cryptocurrency, $TRUMP. The event, scheduled for May 22 at his private golf club in Virginia, promises access to Trump for the top 220 investors in the coin. The 25 highest contributors will also receive a “VIP White House tour,” according to promotional materials shared on Trump’s social media.
In a statement on Tuesday, Sanders highlighted this dinner as a striking example of pay-to-play governance: “If that’s not a troubling form of corruption, I don’t know what is.”
The $TRUMP coin is issued by World Liberty Financial, a Trump family venture that has become a central vehicle for crypto fundraising. Recent reports reveal that a stablecoin developed through this initiative is being used by an Abu Dhabi-backed investment firm to complete a $2 billion business deal. The intertwining of Trump family crypto assets and international investment funds has alarmed watchdog groups and lawmakers alike.
One of those watchdogs, Public Citizen, issued a statement calling the planned dinner “a crime with no immunity.” The group warned that Trump’s actions violate multiple federal statutes prohibiting the solicitation of gifts by public officials. “Trump’s ongoing meme grift squats at the crest of his mountain of conflicts, corruptions, and debasements of the presidency,” said Bartlett Naylor, Public Citizen’s financial policy advocate.
Naylor co-authored a letter Monday urging the Justice Department and the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) to immediately intervene. “Those responsible for upholding the law, from federal prosecutors to members of Congress, can only ignore this at the expense of their own personal legacies,” he said.
The $TRUMP coin itself has surged in value, and the Trump family’s crypto-related holdings have reportedly grown their net worth by nearly $3 billion in the past six months. Developers and promoters of the token have earned hundreds of millions in trading fees. A shipping logistics firm recently announced plans to purchase $20 million in $TRUMP coins as it seeks tariff relief from the administration.
Concerns over conflict of interest are not confined to Trump. Senator Warren has raised questions about David Sacks, the administration’s crypto czar, who co-hosted a $1.5 million-per-plate fundraiser with Trump on Monday. Sacks is financially invested in the crypto sector, and Warren noted that his dual role as policymaker and investor “position[s] him to potentially profit from the crypto policy changes he makes at the White House.”
Senator Cynthia Lummis, a Republican supporter of the crypto industry, expressed reservations about the $TRUMP dinner promotion. “This is my president that we’re talking about, but I am willing to say that this gives me pause,” she said.
The mounting controversy is eroding support for the GENIUS Act. While initially backed by several Senate Democrats, momentum has slowed in recent days. A weekend statement by Democratic senators noted that the bill requires stronger provisions on anti-money laundering and national security. However, as The American Prospect reported, “reading between the lines, it was clearly the Trump corruption that soured them.”
Sanders is now calling for Congress to halt the bill altogether. “In the face of this corruption, you might hope that Congress would step in to clamp down on corruption,” Sanders said. “Instead, Congress is moving quickly to pass the GENIUS Act, which may make a bad situation much worse.”
The implications of the bill go far beyond one coin or one administration. In February, Consumer Reports warned that the GENIUS Act lacked adequate consumer protections and might open the door for large tech companies to effectively become banks—issuing digital currency without the oversight applied to financial institutions.
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