Lawmaker Slams ‘GENIUS Bill’ as Surveillance Nightmare in Disguise

Last Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act into law. Lauded as the first legislation to regulate the cryptocurrency industry, Trump’s bill has drawn strong criticism from some U.S. lawmakers and members of the crypto community.

United States Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene voiced concerns that the GENIUS bill, while presented as a framework for privately issued crypto tokens, effectively creates a pathway for a government-controlled digital currency. She said in an X post:

“This bill regulates stablecoins and provides for the backdoor central bank digital currency. The Federal Reserve has been planning a CBDC for years, and this will open the door to move you to a cashless society and into digital currency that can be weaponized against you by an authoritarian government controlling your ability to buy and sell.”

These sentiments are echoed within the broader crypto community, where there’s a growing apprehension that privately issued stablecoins could become subject to state control. Bitcoin advocate Justin Bechler stated that the “Genius Act forces stablecoins into CBDC compliance and control; functionally identical to a CBDC, without the scary name.”

Jean Rausis, co-founder of Smardex, a decentralized trading platform, also noted that governments recognizing their control over stablecoins inherently gain control over financial transactions. He highlighted that the ability to freeze or rollback transactions and surveil centrally-managed stablecoins makes them similar to CBDCs.

The GENIUS bill underwent amendments in March to include stricter anti-money laundering provisions, sanctions compliance, and know-your-customer (KYC) requirements. These additions necessitate financial surveillance and the potential for transaction censorship, further fueling concerns among critics.

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