U.S. Senate Blocks Stablecoin Bill, Delivering Setback to Crypto Industry

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A bill aimed at establishing a U.S. regulatory framework for stablecoins failed to advance in the Senate on Thursday, marking a significant setback for the crypto industry and stalling hopes for near-term federal legislation governing dollar-pegged digital tokens.

Known as the GENIUS Act, the legislation fell short of the 60 votes needed to proceed to a full Senate vote, securing only 49 votes in favor. The failure comes despite months of lobbying by the crypto sector, which poured over $119 million into supporting pro-crypto candidates during last year’s election cycle and framed stablecoin regulation as a bipartisan issue.

Stablecoins — cryptocurrencies designed to maintain a stable 1:1 peg to the U.S. dollar — are widely used in crypto trading and payments, and their mainstream use has grown rapidly. While the industry had hoped the bill would pass this year, Democratic pushback intensified, particularly in light of former President Trump’s growing involvement in crypto ventures.

Two Republican senators — Josh Hawley and Rand Paul — voted against the bill alongside most Democrats, citing unresolved concerns. Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat who had previously backed the bill in committee, explained his opposition during the vote:

“The work is not yet complete, and I simply cannot in good conscience ask my colleagues to vote for this legislation when the text isn’t finished.”

A group of Democrats who initially supported the measure accused Republicans of refusing to strengthen the bill’s anti-money laundering safeguards and foreign stablecoin oversight, particularly following news that Trump-affiliated World Liberty Financial would launch a stablecoin to support a $2 billion Abu Dhabi-backed investment in Binance.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune expressed frustration on the floor after the vote, blaming Democrats for halting momentum:

“Not every bill that comes to the floor is a final bill… This was a missed opportunity for a bipartisan win.”

With this latest setback, the path forward for stablecoin regulation remains uncertain, and the crypto industry is left grappling with yet another delay in achieving formal legal clarity in the U.S. financial system.

CFPB Ends Supervision of Google Payment, Prompting Google to Drop Lawsuit

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The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has officially withdrawn its supervisory designation over Google Payment Corp, reversing a Biden-era initiative aimed at extending oversight to nonbank financial services provided by Big Tech companies.

The decision, first reported by Bloomberg News and confirmed by a Google spokesperson, ends months of legal conflict between the regulator and Alphabet’s financial unit. In response, Google will drop its lawsuit against the CFPB.

The CFPB initially announced in December 2024 that it would begin supervising Google Payment, claiming that the company’s financial services posed risks to consumers. Google promptly challenged the move in court, arguing that the claims were based on a discontinued peer-to-peer (P2P) payment product and a small number of unsubstantiated complaints.

Russell Vought, acting director of the CFPB under the Trump administration, defended the reversal in a May 7 memo, calling the supervision “an unwarranted use of the Bureau’s powers and resources.”

Google spokesperson José Castañeda welcomed the decision, stating:

“It didn’t make sense for the CFPB to supervise a product that never posed any risks and is no longer available in the U.S. We appreciate their common-sense decision to drop this issue.”

Google discontinued its U.S. version of the Google Pay P2P service in June 2024, citing business reasons, well before the CFPB’s supervisory action was announced.

Under the Biden administration, the CFPB had expanded its focus to include tech-driven financial platforms, citing the growing role of companies like Apple, Google, and PayPal in managing consumer transactions outside traditional banking.

The end of the supervision marks a significant policy shift under the Trump administration, reflecting a broader rollback of regulatory scrutiny over nonbank fintech services.

Apple Developing Custom Chips for Smart Glasses, AI Servers, and Next-Gen Macs

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Apple is advancing its hardware ambitions with the development of specialized chips designed to power future products, including its first smart glasses, AI servers, and next-generation MacBooks, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The tech giant’s reported progress on a low-power chip for smart glasses signals its intent to directly compete with Meta’s popular Ray-Ban smart glasses, a category that’s becoming increasingly central in the race toward consumer wearables integrated with AI.

The glasses-specific chip is said to be based on Apple Watch silicon, emphasizing power efficiency and compact form factors. It has been tailored to support multiple cameras — a key feature for augmented reality (AR) and immersive use cases — and could enter mass production as early as late 2026 or 2027, with TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) slated as the manufacturing partner.

Beyond Smart Glasses:
Apple is also reportedly working on AI-optimized server chips to support the Apple Intelligence platform — the company’s suite of on-device AI features introduced for iPhones. These capabilities include notification summaries, email rewriting, and integration with OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

The server chips would provide the infrastructure needed to process more complex AI workloads, marking a notable shift for Apple as it begins to build its own AI compute backbone, rather than relying entirely on third-party providers.

MacBook Chip Roadmap Expands:
In addition, Apple is said to be developing new Mac chips, expected to be named the M6 and M7, extending its in-house silicon strategy. Apple’s custom chips have already proven transformative in differentiating its Mac lineup, offering significant performance gains over Intel-based predecessors.

Earlier this year, Apple also unveiled its first custom modem chip for iPhones, reinforcing its long-term commitment to vertical integration — from semiconductors to software.

While Apple has not publicly commented on the report, its steady push into AR, AI, and custom hardware signals the company is not merely following trends — but aiming to shape them.