Today in crypto, US lawmakers are drafting an amendment to the GENIUS Act to bar sitting presidents from profiting off stablecoins. Sui-based decentralized exchange Cetus has been exploited, losing more than $200 million. Meanwhile, Bitcoin has broken past the $110,000 mark for the first time.
Senators plan to amend GENIUS Act to address Trump family's stablecoin
Though a majority of members of the US Senate voted to advance a bill to regulate payment stablecoins on May 20, high-ranking Democrats are planning to propose an amendment to the legislation to address President Donald Trump’s connections to the cryptocurrency industry.
According to a May 22 Axios report, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senators Elizabeth Warren and Jeff Merkley will file an amendment to the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act, or GENIUS Act, to block a US president from profiting from stablecoins. The proposed amendment would come after 18 Democrats sided with Republicans in the Senate in voting to advance the bill on May 20 after it failed a procedural vote on May 8.
“Passing the GENIUS Act without our anti-corruption amendment stamps a Congressional seal of approval on Trump selling access and influence to the highest bidder,” Merkley said in a May 22 X post.
Trump his three sons are involved in the crypto platform World Liberty Financial (WLFI), which launched its USD1 stablecoin in March. Critics have pointed out that the president could continue to personally benefit from legislation that helps recognize stablecoins like USD1 as financial instruments in the US.
Sui DEX Cetus hit by suspected hack: Over $200 million in potential losses
Cetus, a decentralized exchange (DEX) built on the Sui blockchain, is suspected to have been hit by a massive exploit that may have drained more than $200 million worth of digital assets.
Pseudonymous Web3 researcher COMDARE3 posted on X that “users report” that Sui-based DEX Cetus is being exploited.” They also shared a screenshot of Cetus market data on DEX Screener, showing many assets losing well over half of their value over the last 24 hours.
The team behind Extractor, an onchain monitoring tool developed by crypto cybersecurity company Hacken, confirmed that “at least $63m was already bridged to Ethereum, 20k ETH was just transferred to a fresh wallet” in a single transaction. A Hacken representative told Cointelegraph that these findings were confirmed by the company’s Web3 researcher, Yehor Rudytsia.
Cetus pool data shows that as of the time of writing, the DEX processed $2.9 billion worth of transactions on May 22, a significant increase over the $320 million reported on May 21. This heightened level of activity may have been caused by funds being siphoned out of the protocol.
Cetus did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comments about the suspected exploit. A Sui team representative gave no comment to Cointelegraph regarding the Cetus situation.
Some tokens, such as Lombard Staked BTC (LBTC) or AXOLcoin (AXOL) lost most of their value on Cetus. The top 15 losers all lost in excess of three-quarters of their price.
Bitcoin climbs above $110,000 for the first time
Bitcoin rallied above $110,000 for the first time late on May 21 after it gained over 3% in the past day and continued its rally early into May 22 to a high of nearly $112,000 as of 4 am UTC.
The cryptocurrency had well passed a a peak high of $109,458 that it hit earlier in the day, which was the first time it traded above its long-held Jan. 20 peak.
Bitcoin has gained around 20% this year and has nearly doubled since its slump to $75,000 on April 7, triggered by US President Donald Trump enacting sweeping tariffs that tanked global markets.
Bitcoin’s continued climb comes as US stock markets were rattled by a weak 20-year bond auction, which sent treasury yields soaring on May 21. The S&P 500 fell 80 points in half an hour while the Nasdaq and Dow Jones mirrored the move, with all US indexes trading down on the day.
Caroline Bowler, CEO of the Australian crypto exchange BTC Markets, said in a note to Cointelegraph that Bitcoin’s continued highs were “driven by institutional-grade infrastructure and stronger regulatory clarity.”
