While the Senate totally dropped the ball on pushing through its stablecoin bill this week, it’s not completely dead in the water. On May 10, 2025, at 1:30 p.m., House Republicans decided to switch things up by revealing a draft of a market structure bill. But all eyes were still glued to the Senate, where a bipartisan effort to move stablecoin legislation hit a major roadblock.
Now, hold up a sec before we dive into the nitty-gritty. This whole situation is pretty crucial for the crypto world, as these bills are expected to land on President Donald Trump’s desk this year. Picture this: a press conference with crypto and AI bigwig David Sacks and the heads of the House and Senate committees. Everyone had their sights set on getting this done “before the August recess.”
So, why should we care about all this political drama? Well, out of the stablecoin and market structure bills, the stablecoin one was supposed to be the simpler task. It’s all about one part of the crypto space, while the market structure bill will shake things up for a much larger chunk of the industry and how it’s regulated by the feds. Up until recently, the stablecoin bill was cruising along smoothly. But now, the timing of its approval is up in the air.
Let’s break it down, shall we? From what I’ve heard this week, no one thinks the Senate’s stablecoin bill — the GENIUS Act — is totally toast. Lawmakers wasted no time getting back to the negotiating table after Thursday’s flop of a vote, and there’s talk of another shot at passing the bill as early as next week, maybe even Monday.
The vote tanked last week because Democrats freaked out about some parts of the bill related to national security, financial system stability, and accountability. Republicans, on the other hand, were all about getting it done quickly, pointing to the growing use of stablecoins. Plus, the whole mess about Trump making bank off stablecoins didn’t sit well with lawmakers either.
At one point, it seemed like a deal was in the works to give Democrats a vote on the “End Crypto Corruption Act” before the big vote on the GENIUS Act. But, surprise, surprise, that plan fell through, leading to a 48-49 defeat.
And get this: it wasn’t just a party line split. Even though no Dems were on board with the bill, Republicans Josh Hawley and Rand Paul joined forces with 46 Dems to shut it down. Sneaky move by Majority Leader John Thune to flip his vote at the last minute, setting the stage for a do-over later on.
The real kicker? The vote went down without anyone even having the actual bill text in hand. Classic Senate move, right?
Now, Democrats have a bit of leverage with the cloture vote, which needs a whopping 60 Senators to pass. This vote will kick off 30 hours of debate, giving Dems a chance to sneak in their priorities. And let’s be real, no Senator wants to flip-flop after opening the floodgates for discussion.
As for the final bill, it doesn’t look like Trump will be banned from dabbling in stablecoins. Negotiations are more focused on how foreign issuers are treated and beefing up anti-money laundering rules. But the longer it takes to lock in the stablecoin law, the slower things will move for the market structure bill, which is set to shake up how digital assets are regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
If the Senate gets its act together and votes on the stablecoin bill soon, it shouldn’t hold up the market structure bill. At least, that’s what a couple of insiders are saying.
In case you missed it, there’s a lot of other juicy news flying under the radar this week. New Hampshire is making waves by becoming the first state to greenlight a crypto reserve law. And over at the SEC, Ripple is cozying up with regulators to settle a $50M dispute. Oh, and Binance’s CZ is trying to score a Trump pardon after some legal trouble. It’s a wild world out there, folks.
So, buckle up and stay tuned for the latest twists and turns in the crypto and government rollercoaster. Who knows what’s coming next, right? But hey, that’s half the fun of it all.
