US senators are in close negotiations over language to establish regulated crypto markets, and as they debate the details, Senator Elizabeth Warren seeks to continue shining a light on President Donald Trump’s personal crypto ties.
The Massachusetts lawmaker, who is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee and a frequent ally, Sen. Jack Reed, sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Attorney General Pam Bondi seeking information on reports that Trump-linked World Liberty Financial Inc. sold tokens to “North Korea, Russia and other illicit actors.”
Such sales, highlighted by Accountable.us, a nonprofit group that investigates Washington influence, “raise serious questions about WLF’s due diligence policies or procedures, including whether its tokens or other products enable sanctions evasion, money laundering, and terrorist financing,” the senators wrote.
Warren and some other Democrats in both the Senate and House of Representatives have taken aim at the president’s business connections with WLFI, saying they pose a significant conflict of interest as his administration pursues cryptocurrency-friendly policies that will directly benefit Trump’s financial interests.
Read More: Crypto Critic Elizabeth Warren Investigates Trump’s Meme Coin Company
Prolonged resistance by the ranking member of one of the two committees that need to pass cryptocurrency legislation could typically spell doom for a legislative effort. However, Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee have demonstrated a divide over crypto efforts, with Warren maintaining her stance that the industry is too risky and the president dangerously conflicted as other members continue to negotiate legislative language.
Proponents of the market structure bill still hope it will see room in that committee before the end of the year, although it’s unclear whether the other panel, the Senate Agriculture Committee, will be able to do the same with their bill that still has some significant loopholes. Crypto lobbyists have said in recent days that closed-door talks between senators are unusually secret, giving them some hope that serious language negotiations are taking place.
While many Democrats have consistently demanded that the president and other top government officials be explicitly prohibited from having commercial ties to crypto operations, Republican lawmakers have never made that point in their legislative bills.
Read more: State of cryptocurrencies: What’s in the draft of the new crypto market structure?
