Lawmakers asked Mark Zuckerberg whether Meta had had any influence on the GENIUS stablecoin bill and its plans to potentially issue its own digital currency. Update (June 11 at 10:50 pm UTC): This article has been updated to include a previous statement from Meta. With the US Senate expected to vote on legislation to regulate payment stablecoins soon, two senators called on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to answer questions about the company’s potential plans to introduce another stablecoin. In a Wednesday letter to Zuckerberg, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal said it was “more critical than ever that Congress and the public fully understand the extent of Meta’s plans” for stablecoins, given the size of the tech company and the expected vote on the GENIUS Act in the Senate. Read more
Lower CPI and tariff rollbacks boost crypto’s outlook despite economic concerns and Fed rate uncertainty. Key takeaway: The crypto market’s strength sustains even as investors continue to ponder the impact of raising the US debt ceiling. The cryptocurrency market responded positively to Wednesday’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) report and reduced prospects of an escalating trade war between the US and China. Demand for alternative hedge instruments typically weakens in such scenarios, yet Bitcoin (BTC) neared $109,000, while Ether (ETH) posted a 3% gain, trading above $2,800. Read more
Weeks after a stablecoin bill stalled over Trump-linked concerns, the Senate advanced the GENIUS Act. In a 68-30 vote, the US Senate chose to advance the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins, or GENIUS Act, more than a month after it was introduced. Speaking from the Senate floor on Wednesday, Majority Leader John Thune urged members of Congress to support the bill, echoing many of US President Donald Trump’s talking points on digital assets, including that the legislation would help make the US the “crypto capital of the world.” A majority of senators, including several Democrats, voted to invoke cloture for the bill, setting it up for debate and a full floor vote before potentially sending it to the House of Representatives for further consideration. “We want to bring cryptocurrency into the mainstream, and the GENIUS Act will help us do that,” said Thune. Read more