Thune open to changing Senate crypto bill to win over Dems
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Monday he is open to amending landmark cryptocurrency legislation that GOP leaders hope to pass in the coming weeks on the floor, as Republicans scramble to negotiate changes that would win over enough Democrats to advance the bill.
“Changes can be made on the floor for sure,” Thune told reporters Monday. He added that he is “waiting to see what it is [Democrats] are asking for.”
His comments come as key Democrats are negotiating to get changes to the crypto legislation, which would create the first-ever U.S. regulatory framework for digital tokens known as stablecoins that are pegged to the value of the dollar.
“Democrats and Republicans are talking to each other right now,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who privately urged members last week not to commit to supporting the stablecoin legislation in order to extract additional concessions from Republicans.
Concerns from Democrats may not be the only vote-counting hurdle Republicans face in the coming days. Sen. Rand Paul said in an interview Monday he is undecided on the legislation, which could add a new headache for Republican leaders who need 60 votes to pass the bill.
“Businesses come to Washington and they say, ‘Please regulate us.’ And usually I say, ‘Well, you’ll be sorry,’” Paul said.
The Kentucky Republican added that he is “all for stablecoin,” which he said could someday compete with the payment giants Mastercard and Visa, but added: “If you place all kinds of limits on it — I don’t know enough to know whether this might harm them in their competitive ability to actually overtake Mastercard and Visa.”
Paul added that he wonders “if this is some kind of thing to build up purchase of Treasuries,” which stablecoin issuers would be allowed to hold as reserves backing their dollar-pegged tokens.
The stablecoin bill hit a surprise roadblock over the weekend when a group of nine Senate Democrats who were previously open to backing the legislation said they wouldn’t support revisions that Republicans unveiled last week.
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), who voted for a previous version of the stablecoin bill when it cleared the Senate Banking Committee in March, said negotiations are ongoing and he hopes to come to a deal with Republicans ahead of a procedural vote that GOP leaders are eyeing to hold on Thursday.
“I’m hoping we could get it done by then,” he told reporters. “If we can’t then, yeah, then push back. But there’s no reason why we can’t.”
His comments are a sign that pro-crypto Democrats remain open to supporting the stablecoin legislation on the floor, despite concerns from other members of the caucus about advancing the measure as the Trump family pursues digital assets business ventures. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), who also voted for a previous version of the bill in the Senate Banking Committee, said there are “real-time meetings going on right now.”
“I think we need a regulated stablecoin regime, but we’ve got legitimate national security issues,” he said.