Crypto bills backed by Trump fail vote in Congress

Several cryptocurrency regulation bills backed by President Donald Trump failed to clear a key procedural hurdle Tuesday in the House of Representatives, dealing a major blow to the crypto industry.

The bills cannot move forward until the House approves rules of debate for the legislation. The final tally of the surprise vote Tuesday was 196 in favor and 223 against.

Thirteen Republicans voted with Democrats to block the legislation from moving forward.

It was unclear late Tuesday what the next steps for the package would be, after House Republican leadership abruptly decided against holding another vote the same day.

The measures had been widely expected to pass. The failure of the rule during what is being billed as “Crypto Week” was a rare instance of House Republicans refusing to take direction from Trump.

Republican leaders have not clarified yet whether a second vote would be for an identical rule and the same bills, or whether members would make changes to the package to satisfy GOP conference members who opposed the current motion.

Crypto-linked stocks turned lower after the vote failed.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., one of the Republicans who opposed the measure, wrote in a post on X, “I just voted NO on the Rule for the GENIUS Act because it does not include a ban on Central Bank Digital Currency and because Speaker Johnson did not allow us to submit amendments to the GENIUS Act.”

“President Trump included a ban on CBDC in his January 23rd executive order and Congress must also include the ban on CBDC in the GENIUS Act,” Greene wrote.

Trump had hailed “Crypto Week” during a post on his Truth Social platform earlier Tuesday and urged all House Republicans to vote “yes” on the measure.

“The House will soon VOTE on a tremendous Bill to Make America the UNDISPUTED, NUMBER ONE LEADER in Digital Assets – Nobody does it better!” Trump wrote.

“The GENIUS Act is going to put our Great Nation lightyears ahead of China, Europe, and all others, who are trying endlessly to catch up, but they just can’t do it,” he wrote.

“Digital Assets are the FUTURE, and we are leading by a lot! Get the first Vote done this afternoon (ALL REPUBLICANS SHOULD VOTE YES!),” Trump continued.

— CNBC’s Emily Wilkins contributed reporting