Overview

• The Senate voted 68-30 on June 11 to advance the GENIUS Act, which would explicitly permit Big Tech firms like Meta to issue their own dollar-pegged stablecoins.
• Senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal sent Mark Zuckerberg a letter demanding answers to eight questions about Meta’s stablecoin lobbying efforts, partnerships and design by a June 17 deadline.
• The lawmakers warned that Meta’s entry into the stablecoin market could enable deeper user surveillance and economic power consolidation given the company’s vast user base.
• Meta has held talks with cryptocurrency firms on integrating a dollar-pegged digital token across Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp as part of a revived version of its Libra project.
• Meta’s communications director previously stated there was “no Meta stablecoin” in development, but the company has yet to publicly address the detailed legislative inquiry.