Schumer’s Secret Stablecoin Standoff—What They Don’t Want You To Know 🪙🤐

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According to that sacred text known as “Punchbowl News” (which sounds less like journalism and more like a retro party planning newsletter), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is having a classic Schumer moment: He’s deeply concerned about Tether, the popular stablecoin issuer, and its performance review in the big, showy legislation known as the GENIUS Act. GENIUS, by the way, stands for Guiding and Establishing National Innovation in U.S. Stablecoins—because Congress can never give a bill a chill name like “Please Don’t Mess Up Crypto, 2024.”

Schumer’s strategy? Basically, “Let’s play hard to get.” He thinks Democrats should leave their love letters to the bill unsigned—for now. Why? Because nothing says leadership like holding out for a better deal. If you’ve ever seen someone negotiate at a flea market, it’s basically that but with more senators and less beaded jewelry.

Back in March, Axios reported that several Democratic Senators—most notably Elizabeth Warren, whose vibes around crypto are generally “Do you have a permit for that blockchain?”—tried to spice up the bill with amendments all about national security and, of course, making sure no foreign stablecoin gets to crash on America’s metaphorical couch.

The Democrats wanted to slam the door on foreign-issued stablecoins in the US. This would hit Tether right in its El Salvadorian wallet since it’s basically the Beyoncé of stablecoins. But the Republicans swiped left on that idea, and the bill cha-cha’d its way out of the Senate Banking Committee in March—no amendments, just pure, unfiltered legislative ambition.

If you’re still with me, welcome to the political soap opera. U.Today says Politico says that now—even the crypto-friendly Democrats are getting cold feet. Republicans hoped to glide this bill to a full Senate vote before Memorial Day, but the recent existential crisis among some Dems (I’m looking at you, Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona), is really putting a kink in the plans. And by “kink” I mean classic legislative “Will They, Won’t They?” drama.

Punchbowl News reports: there was a schism at Thursday’s Democratic lunch. (I’d pay so much money to see a Senate lunch—are there jokes about minting coins? Is there a secret handshake? Do they serve Tether-themed Jell-O?) Anyway, now some crypto-loving Democrats find themselves publicly disagreeing with each other. Because apparently, even in politics, you just can’t have nice things.

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2025-05-05 09:16