Real GENIUS 💡
On-again, off-again stablecoin bill is on again
In this week’s edition of The Context, we talk about what’s next for the GENIUS Act, what could stop Circle from going public, and why Genesis creditors are suing Digital Currency Group.
[Advanced GENIUS 🧠]
The GENIUS Act, a regulatory framework for stablecoins, moved forward in a 66–32 procedural vote after multiple Democrats—who had pulled their support earlier in May—voted in favor.
What Media Said 🧑💻:
“The vote is a major win for the crypto industry, which has lobbied Congress for years to pass legislation that would help legitimize digital assets,” wrote Jasper Goodman (Politico). But “despite the changes won by Democrats in negotiations…it is divisive on the left.”
Negotiations involved consumer protection and preventing terrorism financing, but “the most animating worry for Democrats was that the legislation could enable the president and his family to profit by issuing their own stablecoins,” wrote Robert Jimison (New York Times). Despite Republicans refusing to budge on that last point, 16 Democrats voted to advance the bill, arguing that industry regulation was still necessary.
Actually, many of the changes Dems did get “seemed marginal,” wrote Nikhilesh De (CoinDesk). In the end, it was enough to clear the way for debate and a final vote as the House of Representatives works on similar legislation.
PR Perspective 🔎:
Pointing to conflicts of interest and self-dealing in the Trump administration hasn’t been a winning theme for Democrats outside of their base. President Trump, after all, doesn’t seem worried about such allegations, and is holding a dinner for $TRUMP holders on Thursday. Still, while bipartisan passage of the bill is good for the crypto industry, amending it to prevent political conflicts of interest could have won over more converts to crypto.
[Public Square Circle 🟦 ⭕]
USDC stablecoin issuer Circle is reportedly in talks to sell itself to crypto exchange Coinbase or payments firm Ripple.
What Media Said 🧑💻:
Circle filed to go public in April but hasn’t done a roadshow or released stock details, explained Luisa Beltran (Fortune). Its talks with Coinbase and Ripple are informal, according to sources, and Circle says it doesn’t plan to sell. But its close relationship with Coinbase, which holds equity in and “significant control” over Circle, could make the exchange a natural buyer.
Entering 2025, it looked like the year would be big for crypto IPOs. With Kraken and Gemini also “mulling IPOs,” that could end up being true, said Christopher Tepedino (Cointelegraph). But while President Trump “has pushed for a more favorable regulatory environment for crypto,” his tariffs caused firms to put their plans “on hold.”
PR Perspective 🔎:
Regardless of whether it goes public or sells, this media coverage isn’t a bad outcome for Circle: It gets to stay in the news as it buys time to see what happens with stablecoin regulations (see above story). If that legislation passes, it could juice its share/selling price.
[Saga Genesis ⚖️]
Creditors of crypto lender Genesis are suing erstwhile parent company Digital Currency Group (DCG) and its CEO Barry Silbert for over $3B, alleging fraud, insider enrichment, and reckless fund transfers leading up to Genesis’ 2023 bankruptcy.
What Media Said 🧑💻:
There are two lawsuits: one in a Delaware court and the other in a federal bankruptcy court. The second suit claims “Silbert and other insiders made fraudulent fiat and crypto transfers worth over $1 billion from Genesis, which it seeks to claw back,” explained Danny Park (The Block). Even so, Genesis was already insolvent at this point, due to market contagion from the implosion of Terra and Luna.
Even as Silbert urged calm as crypto entered a bull market in 2022, creditors claim he “demanded repayment of more than $100 million in loans that he and the companies he controlled had made to Genesis,” wrote Kevin T. Dugan (WSJ). But according to creditors, Silbert et al actually “helped trigger the crypto market’s ferocious downturn”—when Grayscale Bitcoin Trust performed weakly, they tapped into Genesis for $800M+ in loans.
PR Perspective 🔎:
DCG’s Grayscale Bitcoin Trust is the third-largest Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the U.S., with over $19B in holdings. BlackRock and Fidelity, traditional Wall Street firms, are ahead of it. Grayscale needs to make sure this story doesn’t damage its image with ETFs’ target customer base: normal investors who aren’t crypto-native and trust reputable, boring companies.
[Tweet of The Week]
Credit: @ProofofIntern
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The usual disclaimer: This newsletter collates the main themes and headlines of the week in DeFi/crypto/metaverse/Web3/NFT land and tries to provide unbiased context. It's aimed at anyone who wants to keep an eye on the space. It's put together by a team at YAP and doesn't contain any promotion of our clients (if one is mentioned, we'll flag that).
The team: Founder Samantha Yap and consulting editor Jeff Benson, Andrew Wickerson, Nathalie Larrea, Meghna Dembla, Samvidha Sharma, Trisha Goswami and Shajar Qureshi. Your feedback is, as always, welcome. Ping us at thecontext@yapglobal.com. Old newsletters can be found here.
This newsletter is prepared by YAP Global, an international PR Consultancy focusing on helping cryptocurrency, Decentralised Finance (DeFi) and brands through impactful storytelling. Find out more about us here.