Lawmaker Warns The GENIUS Act Is Just Another CBDC

The first week of the "Crypto week" has ended with President Trump signing the GENIUS Act. But some are warning that the GENIUS Act is just a ploy by Trump to takeover the American Financial market.

In her statement, United States congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene called the GENIUS Act a backdoor for the government to create "central bank digital currencies" disguised as privately issued stablecoins.

Greene argued that the new regulatory regime for stablecoins would give the government "functional surveillance capabilities", making them fundamentally similar to CBDCs in terms of state control and oversight.

In a separate social media post, Greene stated:

“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 move you to a cashless society and into digital currency that can be weaponized against you by an authoritarian government controlling your ability to buy and sell.”

Her concerns mirror those increasingly raised by Bitcoin and crypto industry advocates, who complain that the regulatory and compliance mechanisms built into stablecoin legislation could give the government too much control over these supposedly privately-issued tokens.

Crypto Community Voices Similar Concerns

Justin Bechler, a prominent Bitcoin advocate, argued that the GENIUS Act mandates stablecoins to comply with rules nearly identical to those expected of a CBDC without the overt label.

Meanwhile, Saifedean Ammous, author of “The Bitcoin Standard,” noted that since the U.S. dollar already exists as a state-controlled digital asset.

Ammous adds that any dollar-backed stablecoin is essentially subject to the same oversight, regardless of its issuer.

Jean Rausis, co-founder of the Smardex decentralized exchange, highlighted that the ability of authorities to freeze, reverse, or monitor transactions on regulated stablecoins renders them indistinguishable from government-operated digital currencies.

The GENIUS Act underwent significant amendments in March to strengthen Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Know Your Customer (KYC), and sanctions compliance.

These provisions, crypto advocates argue, embed deeper financial surveillance tools and empower authorities to censor or reverse transactions as needed.

Industry voices such as Curve Finance founder Dr. Michael Egorov have also warned about the dangers of regulatory capture related to centralized stablecoins.

Notably, the government's ability to seize underlying fiat assets intensifies concerns over state influence and control.