Van Hollen Statement for the Record on GENIUS Act

Today, U.S. Senator Van Hollen submitted the following statement for the record on the GENIUS Act:

"M. President, yesterday I voted against final passage of the GENIUS Act. I think the majority of my colleagues agree that we need sensible regulation of cryptocurrency and stablecoins to protect consumers, safeguard our financial system, and close down their use in illicit finance of criminal activities that jeopardize our security. But this bill missed the mark, and was pushed through without the opportunity to vote on several amendments that would have strengthened it.

Stablecoins have been called “the new kingpin of illicit activity” as a tool of money laundering, payment in ransomware attacks, and financing for criminal and terrorist activity. The bill purports to bring stablecoins into the Anti-Money Laundering regulatory regime, but does not adequately enforce those requirements at a time when the Trump Administration is rapidly dismantling crypto investigation and enforcement units at the Department of Justice and SEC. It fails to address crypto “mixers,” which make it more difficult to trace illicit transactions; instead, it calls for further study of the issue. And it includes a loophole to allow Tether, a foreign stablecoin issuer that has been used to help Russians evade U.S. sanctions, to have access to U.S. markets. Several Senators put forward amendments to address these national security risks, including Senator Peters, who offered a change that would create a system for tracing stablecoin transactions that is similar to the way we track other financial transactions. The Majority Leader did not allow consideration of any of these amendments.

The GENIUS Act fails to adequately protect consumers or our financial system, allowing risky assets to provide the required 1:1 peg for stablecoins, limiting the number of issuers subject to financial audit, and failing to give the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau clear authority to offer the same protections from fraud a consumer has when using a bank account. There were amendments to fix these issues – they did not get a vote.

But perhaps most egregiously, this GENIUS Act does nothing to constrain President Trump’s rampant crypto corruption. It does not address the meme coin the President marketed in exchange for access to an exclusive dinner. And it doesn’t address the President’s family stablecoin, which has already been used by a state-owned Emirati company to execute a $2 billion transaction. It is clear that anyone who invests enough in the President’s crypto schemes – including foreign governments – will have access to the highest levels of our government. Senator Merkley offered an amendment to ensure that no government official – not the President, not members of Congress – can issue stablecoins or other cryptocurrencies. The Majority Leader blocked its consideration.  

M. President, we have experienced the dangers that weak regulatory structures have posed to consumers, investors, and our financial system. We have paid to bail out industry after those systems have failed. We had an opportunity to strengthen the GENIUS Act, build safeguards around a growing sector, and stamp out its use in corrupt and criminal activities. Instead, we barreled forward without even a vote on those amendments. Because we could not make those critical improvements, I voted against the bill."