Senior Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Maxine Waters, expressed concerns regarding the GENIUS and Clarity bills expected to be voted on.
Waters' General Views on the Bills
In her article published on MSNBC, Waters stated that the regulations contained deliberate details aimed at legitimizing cryptocurrency investments during President Donald Trump's administration. She indicated that these bills may be passed by the House on Wednesday and Thursday, reaching the president's desk on Friday.
Potential Problems with the Legislation
In her piece titled "My Colleagues are Making a Big Mistake", Waters emphasized that the crypto legislation could trigger a full-scale financial collapse. She highlighted Bloomberg's calculations suggesting the Trump family earned $620 million from crypto ventures, expressing concerns about the President's unprecedented conflict of interest. Waters asserts that the bills would weaken transparency and create diluted legitimacy within the cryptocurrency market.
Details of the GENIUS and Clarity Bills
The GENIUS Act, which has passed the Senate, imposes net capital and reporting requirements on stablecoins fully backed by the U.S. dollar or equivalent liquid assets. However, Waters claims that the law lacks sufficient funding for oversight and enforcement, rendering protective measures merely theoretical. Similarly, the Clarity Act seeks to clarify jurisdictional boundaries between the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the crypto market, imposing conditions on companies to separate customer assets from corporate balance sheets. Waters pointed out that this regulation does not provide the SEC with authority for early intervention, nor does it include provisions prioritizing individual investors.
Democrats continue to caution their party colleagues ahead of the final vote, arguing that both bills serve legitimization tools in light of Trump's favorable stance towards the industry.
