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Trump’s threat to block Congress over voter-ID law leaves crypto bill on shakier ground

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Trump's threat to block Congress over voter-ID law leaves crypto bill on shakier ground

If the crypto industry manages its top priority to get its market structure legislation through the U.S. Senate and to the desk of President Donald Trump, he might not sign it if he holds true to threats he’s been making to withhold his signature from any other legislation before the elections bill.

Trump, in the midst of managing a U.S. war with Iran, has spent significant attention on the SAVE America Act, which he’s declared his top priority in Congress. The proposed legislation would be designed to impose new hurdles for U.S. voting, including identification requirements, proof-of-citizenship demands and strict limits on mail-in ballots that would be expected to thin the voter rolls.

“It’ll guarantee the midterms,” Trump said in Monday remarks at a conference of congressional Republicans in Florida. “I’m willing to just sort of say I’m not going to sign anything until this is approved.”

He acknowledged that the effort — a new version of the previous Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act that already passed the House of Representatives — will have a difficult time in the Senate, where he suggested there are four or five Republican lawmakers who aren’t on board. In addition to the voter requirements, the bill would additionally focus on banning transgender athletes in women’s sports and gender-affirming surgery for children.

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Democrats criticize the voter-ID effort as voter suppression written to fix an election-fraud problem for which there’s no evidence, despite the presidents’ claims that he’s been cheated in elections.

Trump argued the act would secure Republican power in the U.S. for half a century.

“You’re going to win the midterms at levels you wouldn’t even believe,” Trump told the Republican audience. The GOP is widely expected to lose ground in November’s congressional midterms, including a potential loss of the House majority, which current betting on prediction market Polymarket puts at an 85% likelihood. “You’re going to win every election for a long time until somebody really screws things up, and hopefully that won’t happen.”

But the president has also been a major driver of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act that’s been the top policy goal for the crypto industry. His new stance that he won’t approve other bills before his voter-ID effort throws a shadow on the digital assets push, which is working toward a long-awaited approval from the Senate Banking Committee.

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The negotiation over the market structure bill has been difficult, but crypto insiders have maintained hope that the talks could find sufficient common ground as soon as this week to get a hearing scheduled to move it through committee. The legislation has already advanced through the Senate Agriculture Committee, so if it makes it through the banking panel, a final version would need to be meshed together for a vote of the overall Senate. Assuming the House would sign off, because it had already approved a similar bill last year, the legislation would then reach Trump’s desk.

Now the crypto sector has to wonder how serious the president was about refusing to sign anything, even a digital asset bill he has demanded be quickly sent to his desk. Establishing a pro-crypto regulatory system in the U.S. has been among the top issues for the Trump White House, so a Clarity Act passage will test whether Trump can force action on SAVE while still getting his crypto project accomplished.

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Crypto World

US Banking Group Weighs OCC Lawsuit Over Crypto Trust Charters

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US Banking Group Weighs OCC Lawsuit Over Crypto Trust Charters

A US trade group made up of some of the country’s biggest banks is reportedly considering suing the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), arguing that granting crypto firms bank charters could put Americans and the financial system at risk. 

According to a report on Monday by The Guardian, citing a “source familiar with the lobby’s thinking,” the Bank Policy Institute (BPI) is weighing legal options after the OCC failed to heed warnings from banking groups over its reinterpretation of federal licensing rules.

In December, the OCC granted conditional national trust bank charter approvals to several crypto firms, including BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, Ripple and Paxos. A growing number of other crypto companies have followed suit since.

Blockchain infrastructure firm Zerohash submitted an application on Feb. 27. The OCC also issued conditional licenses to Crypto.com, Bridge, and Stripe in February.

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The Trump-backed World Liberty Financial also applied for a charter in January to expand the use of its USD1 stablecoin, but is still waiting for a decision.

BPI, which counts major US institutions such as Goldman Sachs, American Express, and JPMorgan among its members, is also concerned that crypto firms with national trust bank charters pose risks to the wider financial system.

The Bank Policy Institute has some of the largest US institutions as members. Source: Bank Policy Institute

A national trust bank charter is a federal license from the OCC that permits a company to operate as a trust bank under federal law and engage in fiduciary activities such as trust services, custody and asset safekeeping.

Banking group hasn’t made the final call yet 

According to The Guardian, the BPI has not yet made a final decision on whether to pursue legal action against the OCC. Cointelegraph contacted the Bank Policy Institute for comment.

Related: Bankers push OCC to slow crypto trust charters until GENIUS rules clarified

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In October, the BPI released a statement urging the OCC to reject national trust company charter applications from a group of crypto firms, including Ripple and Circle. The BPI argued that granting these charters would result in less oversight than is required for full-service national banks.

The BPI was also among a group of banks and business associations that filed a lawsuit against the Federal Reserve in late 2024 over its stress-testing framework for assessing the health and resilience of the banking sector. The Fed has since agreed to reconsider parts of the framework and the case has been paused. 

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