Concerns Over GENIUS Stablecoin Legislation
In a recent critique of the GENIUS stablecoin legislation, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has raised concerns that the bill may serve as a hidden gateway for the establishment of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) under the guise of privately issued cryptocurrencies. Greene expressed her apprehensions, stating that the features of regulated stablecoins include surveillance capabilities that make them similar to CBDCs.
Greene’s Warnings
“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 a cashless society, allowing an authoritarian government to wield power over individuals’ ability to buy and sell.”
Greene’s statements reflect a growing unease within the Bitcoin and broader cryptocurrency communities regarding how regulated stablecoins may be leveraged by authorities. Bitcoin advocate Justin Bechler echoed these sentiments on a social media platform, asserting that the GENIUS Act essentially places stablecoins under CBDC-like restrictions without the overt terminology associated with government-issued digital currencies.
Expert Opinions
Moreover, Saifedean Ammous, the author of The Bitcoin Standard, stressed that the US dollar, in all its forms, is inherently a digital currency monitored by authorities.
“Governments understand that controlling stablecoins equates to controlling financial transactions.”
Noted Jean Rausis, who co-founded the decentralized trading platform Smardex, pointed out that the characteristics of freezing or reversing transactions, combined with oversight on centralized stablecoins, render them functionally similar to CBDCs.
Amendments and Regulatory Concerns
Additionally, the GENIUS bill underwent amendments in March to incorporate stricter guidelines on anti-money laundering, sanctions compliance, and know-your-customer (KYC) protocols, all of which stipulate increased financial surveillance and potential censorship of transactions. Earlier this month, Dr. Michael Egorov, the founder of Curve Finance, warned about the risks associated with centralized stablecoins, indicating that these assets could fall prey to regulatory capture, including government confiscation of the underlying fiat assets locked in custodial institutions that support these digital tokens.
