The U.S. Senate has voted to advance the stablecoin-regulating GENIUS Act, with 16 Democratic Senators changing their votes to support the bill. 

In an interesting development, the U.S. Senate advanced the GENIUS Act in a key procedural vote, passing it by a margin of 66-32. 

16 Democratic Senators Change Initial Vote to Yes 

The development comes over a week after several Democratic Senators blocked an initial attempt to advance the stablecoin regulation. At the time, these senators expressed concerns over Donald Trump’s potential conflict of interest and anti-money laundering provisions related to the bill. 

However, the Senate succeeded in passing the motion to invoke cloture on the GENIUS Act in a 66-32 vote. It bears mentioning that this would not have been possible without 16 Democratic Senators changing their votes to ‘Yes’. 

They include Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Adam Schiff, Ben Ray Luján, Angela Alsobrooks, Mark Warner, Jon Ossoff, Catherine Cortez Masto, John Fetterman, and Alex Padilla. 

Others are Senators Elissa Slotkin, Ruben Gallego, Martin Heinrich, Jacky Rosen, Maggie Hassan, Lisa Blunt Rochester, and Cory Booker. 

Three of these senators–Schiff, Slotkin, and Gallego–were initially supported by Fairshake PAC during the 2024 election. For context, Fairshake is a political action committee funded by crypto entities like Ripple and Coinbase to advocate for pro-crypto legislation. 

Next Steps

Based on the latest development, the GENIUS Act will now proceed to the Senate floor for debate and potential amendments. Afterward, a full vote will be held to determine the bill’s final passage. 

Eleanor Terrett, the host of the Crypto in America show, disclosed that this process will commence tomorrow, May 21. Republican Senators, including Cynthia Lummis, hope to pass the GENIUS Act before the U.S. Memorial Day, slated for May 26. However, it is uncertain whether the GENIUS Act will pass by then. 
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