Senator Cory Booker sides with Trump in dangerous stablecoin scheme

In a stunning display of bipartisan complicity, the United States Senate has passed the so-called GENIUS Act, a bill that not only fails to protect Americans from the volatile world of cryptocurrency but actively enables President Donald Trump to profit from it.

Among the 16 Democrats who betrayed their party’s principles to support this reckless legislation was Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey—a decision that has drawn fierce condemnation from anti-establishment progressive Democrat Lisa McCormick.

The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act) was sold as a necessary regulatory framework for stablecoins, digital currencies pegged to traditional assets like the U.S. dollar.

But behind the polished rhetoric lies a brazen conflict of interest: President Trump, through his World Liberty Financial venture, has already launched his own stablecoin, USD1, which stands to benefit directly from this legislation.

The GENIUS Act does nothing to prevent Trump—or any future president—from regulating a financial product in which they hold a personal stake.

This is not hypothetical: USD1 is already being used in high-stakes deals, including a $2 billion investment in Binance by an Abu Dhabi-based firm. Meanwhile, Trump’s allies in the Senate, including Booker, have dismissed concerns about ethics, allowing a sitting president to functionally oversee a market he is actively exploiting.

“A bill that turbocharges the stablecoin market, while facilitating the President’s corruption and undermining national security, financial stability, and consumer protection, is worse than no bill at all,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren, one of the bill’s most vocal opponents.

Yet Booker and his colleagues ignored these warnings, siding instead with crypto-industry lobbyists and Republicans eager to deregulate digital assets.

A Legacy of Weak Crypto Oversight
This is not Booker’s first betrayal of financial accountability. He has repeatedly voted in favor of crypto-friendly policies, including the repeal of SEC safeguards (SAB 121) and IRS reporting requirements (S.J. Res 3).

Booker accepted piles of cash from onetime wunderkind Sam Bankman-Fried and members of his team before the FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder was arrested and convicted on all seven criminal counts of making more than 300 illegal political donations, wire fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering.

Booker sponsored the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act (DCCPA), a proposed federal law to place the regulation of cryptocurrencies and related digital assets trading under the authority of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Bankman-Fried lobbied extensively for the DCCPA, which was perceived as being favorable to FTX but harmful to the broader industry, especially its decentralized finance competitors, and potentially disastrous for consumers.

Booker’s support for the GENIUS Act cements his alignment with an industry rife with fraud, money laundering, and speculative risk—all while Trump’s USD1 grows in influence.

Worse still, the bill does nothing to stop foreign actors—including those linked to sanctioned figures like Binance’s Changpeng Zhao—from exploiting stablecoins to bypass U.S. sanctions. With the FBI already shifting resources away from financial crimes, the stage is set for an explosion of crypto-enabled corruption.

Lisa McCormick, a progressive Democrat who has long challenged establishment figures like Booker and disgraced former US Senator Bob Menendez, blasted his vote as “a disgraceful abdication of duty.”

“Senator Booker had a choice: stand with working Americans or enable a president who is turning the U.S. financial system into his personal piggy bank,” McCormick said. “He chose to sell out American workers so he could cash in on cryptocurrency.”

McCormick said Bankman-Fried’s campaign spending isn’t a simple problem that may be solved by returning individual donations.

The consequences of this decision will ripple far beyond Wall Street.

If stablecoins collapse—as many financial experts warn they might—taxpayers could be left holding the bag while Trump and his allies walk away richer.

“Before being hoodwinked, people must remember that cryptocurrency is backed by the full faith and credit of absolutely nothing,” McCormick said.

Booker’s defenders may argue that blockchain technology is “here to stay,” but that is no excuse for handing its regulation to those who stand to profit from its abuse. The American people deserve leaders who will rein in corruption, not accelerate it.

“As the grifter in the White House celebrates a legislative victory for his crypto ventures, one thing is clear: Cory Booker and his colleagues have failed the test of leadership,” McCormick said. “And history will not judge them kindly. ”