The Big Story 

President Trump’s recent cryptocurrency dealings are casting a shadow on the industry at a key moment, as the Senate prepares to vote on a stablecoin bill Thursday. 

© Associated Press pool

Senate leadership is preparing to hold a vote on the GENIUS Act, which would create a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins.

However, a contingent of crypto-friendly Democrats have threatened to vote it down, accusing Republicans of prematurely cutting off negotiations over the bipartisan bill.

The showdown over the stablecoin bill comes as the Trump family’s growing portfolio of crypto projects fuel the legislation’s opponents, who argue it will allow the president and his family to profit from the industry. 

Crypto investors and advocates who were elated by Trump’s moves to bolster the industry are now growing concerned.

“Trump’s not helping himself,” said Nic Carter, a founding partner at crypto investment firm Castle Island Ventures, adding, “Everyone I know in crypto is very frustrated by this. It’s like a completely unnecessary own goal.” 

Trump’s close ties to the crypto industry have raised concerns since before he took office.

As the president embraced digital assets on the campaign trail last fall, he and his sons launched their own crypto venture, World Liberty Financial. And shortly before his inauguration, the president and first lady Melania Trump launched meme coins.  

Both World Liberty Financial and the president’s meme coin have drawn scrutiny once again in recent weeks. 

Trump is set to attend a dinner with the top investors in his meme coin later this month. The announcement in April, which encouraged participants to “hold as much $TRUMP as you can,” caused the price of the token to spike 60 percent. 

World Liberty Financial also announced last week that Emirati firm MGX would be using the company’s brand-new stablecoin to conduct a $2 billion transaction with crypto exchange Binance.  

Democrats have decried the moves as efforts by the president and his family to enrich themselves, calling for ethics investigations into both the meme coin dinner and the World Liberty Financial. 

They argue that the meme coin and stablecoin can be used by Trump to improperly profit off his office and by outside actors, including foreign actors, to attempt to buy influence with the president.  

The Trump family owns a 60 percent stake in World Liberty Financial, and a company affiliated with the family receives 75 percent of the revenue collected from its coin sales. 

The White House has previously downplayed concerns about potential conflicts of interest between Trump and his family crypto businesses, saying the president uses a blind trust to avoid improprieties.

The growing scrutiny surrounding the president and his family’s crypto dealings is threatening to upend his administration’s efforts to pass long sought legislation providing the industry with greater regulatory clarity. 

Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.

Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we’re Miranda Nazzaro and Julia Shapero — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.

Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

Essential Reads 

How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future:

Gallego to GOP: ‘Don’t try to f‑‑‑ us’ on stablecoin bill

Senate Democrat calls on DOJ to investigate risks from Signal-like app

Bipartisan pair of senators introduces bill to boost ride-sharing passengers’ safety

The Refresh 

News we’ve flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics:

Crypto Corner 

New Hampshire breaks with other states on crypto 

© Robert F. Bukaty, Associated Press file

Welcome to Crypto Corner, a daily feature focused on digital currency and its outlook in Washington.

While numerous states are rejecting pushes for crypto reserves, New Hampshire is emerging as a standout on the issue.

The Granite State became the first in the country on Tuesday to establish a crypto reserve. 

“New Hampshire is once again First in the Nation!” New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte wrote Tuesday on the social platform X. “Just signed a new law allowing our state to invest in cryptocurrency and precious metals.”

The law, titled H.B. 302, enables the state treasurer to invest up to 5 percent of New Hampshire’s state funds into precious metals and digital assets. The metals and assets must have a market cap of more than $500 billion, and bitcoin will be the asset used to fill the stockpile.

It hands the crypto industry a win after several other states couldn’t get their legislation across the finish line.

In Arizona, Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) vetoed a state bill that would have allowed the state to use seized crypto funds for a crypto reserve. And in Florida two crypto reserve bills were pulled the state’s legislative session. 

North Dakota, South Dakota, Pennsylvania, Wyoming and Montana also rejected similar bills.

The push for crypto reserves mirrors that on the federal level, where President Trump signed an executive order in March creating a government reserve of bitcoin and a stockpile for other digital assets.

ICYMI: Congressional lawmakers are on a bill blitz taking aim at the Trump family’s crypto venture, including the president’s personalized meme coin. 

•  Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) introduced a law with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to ban federal officials and their immediate family members from financially benefiting from issuing, endorsing or sponsoring crypto assets. 
• Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) is reportedly planning to introduce a bill to prevent federal officials and immediate family members from profiting off of meme coins and stablecoins. 

In Other News 

Branch out with other reads on The Hill:

Israeli spyware firm NSO ordered to pay Meta, WhatsApp nearly $170M over hacking

A federal jury in California ordered Israeli cyberintelligence firm NSO Group on Tuesday to pay Meta and WhatsApp nearly $170 million for hacking about 1,400 users on the instant messaging platform.  The spyware vendor, which created the Pegasus surveillance tool, has to pay $167,256,000 in punitive damages and another $440,000 in compensatory damages. The verdict, which presents a win for privacy advocates and Meta, comes …

What Others are Reading 

Two key stories on The Hill right now:

GOP senators fear Marjorie Taylor Greene could cost them Georgia Senate race

Republican senators are waving off firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) from jumping into next year’s Georgia Senate race, voicing concerns … Read more

Trump administration formally invokes state secrets privilege in Abrego Garcia case 

The Trump administration invoked the state secrets privilege Wednesday to avoid handing over documents in the legal battle over Kilmar Abrego Garcia, … Read more