The cryptocurrency industry has been coasting toward favorable regulation thanks to a degree of bipartisan support on Capitol Hill — but that consensus appears to be grinding to a halt as Democrats start asking questions about just how much President Donald Trump's family is personally benefitting from all this, reported Politico.
"Even as the White House presses Congress to pass the industry-friendly legislation, the Trump family’s growing crypto businesses are emerging as an unavoidable obstacle after news that an Abu Dhabi royal backed a $500-million investment in a Trump-linked venture called World Liberty Financial," said the report. That foreign deal "is hardening Democrats’ resolve to include ethics guardrails in the bill and setting up a major standoff."
Even before that reporting, alarms were raised about World Liberty Financial and its potential to allow the Trump family to solicit foreign bribes.
Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to pass the legislation without Democratic support, so "it’s giving lawmakers on the left a rare point of leverage to address long-festering ethics concerns about the Trump family’s business dealings," the report noted.
Democratic lawmakers involved with these talks have laid out these objections clearly, with Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) saying “The Trump administration has demonstrated the grossest, most egregious corruption from the White House we have ever seen,” and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) saying the ethics language must not “treat the president differently than any other federal employee.”
This comes at the same time Democrats are infuriated that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent shut down federal efforts at his department to investigate crypto scams.
