A trio of cryptocurrency regulation bills in the US Congress faces an uncertain future amid growing infighting among Republicans. Despite broad-based support, the legislation has stalled due to opposition from conservative House Republicans. Fresh opposition emerged from a new bloc of Republicans objecting to last-minute changes proposed to appease original hold-outs. As of Wednesday afternoon, negotiations remain ongoing, but more than half a dozen Republicans voted against letting two of the regulation bills proceed in their current forms. House Speaker Mike Johnson can only afford to lose a few Republican votes to pass the measures.
The stalemate has fuelled doubts about the House Republican conference’s ability to align on crypto regulation. Wednesday’s setbacks also raise questions about President Donald Trump’s influence over party members. Trump had claimed that holdouts had “all agreed to vote” for the bill after meeting with them. The second attempt to pass the rules came after eleventh-hour negotiations and Trump’s intervention on Tuesday evening to get another group of hold-outs on board.
For the crypto industry, the ongoing gridlock is a significant disappointment, threatening to derail hopes of passing crypto legislation during what had been promoted as “Crypto Week.” The new opposition on Wednesday originated from lawmakers on key committees who had authored the legislation, not just the conservative hardliners. Deals are still being negotiated, and Republican leadership is considering an alternative plan: attaching the ban on a central bank digital currency onto an unrelated “must-pass” bill.
The three bills in question include the GENIUS Act, which passed the Senate last month, and two others moving through the House: The CLARITY Act and a bill barring the Federal Reserve from establishing a central bank digital currency.
