House Democrats attempted multiple amendments to a stablecoin bill yesterday morning that would prevent the president and other government officials from having a financial interest in a dollar-backed digital asset.

• Why it matters: In the middle of negotiations on what would be the first piece of U.S. crypto legislation, the Trump-affiliated World Liberty Financial announced its own stablecoin — triggering conflict-of-interest concerns and risking a partisan split.

The latest: In the end, the stablecoin bill passed the House Financial Services Committee yesterday, 32-17, and now awaits a full vote on the House floor.

• We don't have the roll call votes yet, but there are more than 17 Democrats on the committee.

Context: The legislation under consideration yesterday was the STABLE Act from Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wisc.) and committee chair French Hill (R-Ark.).

• HR 2392 would create a law governing the issuance of dollar-backed stablecoins by U.S. banks and financial companies.

Friction point: While negotiations around such a measure have been bipartisan, the announcement of a stablecoin linked to the Trump Organization has created a cause for Democrats to defect.

• It started with Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the committee's ranking member, who sought language in the legislation to keep Trump, Elon Musk and others out of the stablecoin business.
• Waters tried to get bipartisan stablecoin legislation passed in the prior Congress.

Threat level: Democrats argued it would be problematic for the Trump Organization to have an interest in a stablecoin.

• Case in point: People seeking favor with the U.S. government could hold the stablecoin, which would effectively be a way of enriching the family of the president.

What they said: Rep. Sam Liccardo (D.-Calif), a co-sponsor of the legislation, offered one of the amendments.

• "One would think this would be a fairly self-evident and obvious proposition," he said. "We would avoid the inevitable conflicts of interest."
• Some argue the message is working.

Republicans have resisted the amendments, however.

• Steil argued that the bill places universal requirements on all prospective issuers. "So if you support consumer protection innovation, you should vote for the underlying bill," he said repeatedly as he opposed various versions of roughly the same amendment.

"Both sides of the aisle recognize the importance of passing legislation so that America can lead the way in digital financial technology," a spokesperson for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy said, responding to a request for comment.

The latest: The Democrats' proposals didn't fly, but we're still sorting out how the bill changed yesterday.

The helmsmen of the stablecoin legislation in the House have said that it's important for the bill to be written in concert with the next one on the agenda — the law that will more broadly define how U.S. cryptocurrency markets should operate.

• During yesterday's hearings, Hill told Democrats that some of their concerns about stablecoins were better dealt with in that so-called market structure legislation.
• Hill's spokesperson confirmed to Axios that they see the two areas of legislation as a high priority, citing quotes from Hill and Steil in Punchbowl about how the two pieces of legislation go well together.

The intrigue: Coinbase is reportedly pushing for the two bills to be passed at the same time, which has many in the industry concerned about lost momentum.

Our thought bubble: It doesn't pay to overthink these statements because "at the same time" could be a fuzzy concept, but it does seem to make the process more complicated.

• Stablecoins seem feasible to just finish soon with the discipline the GOP has been showing. Market structure is going to be complicated.

The Senate Banking Committee just voted 13-11 to send Paul Atkins' SEC chair nomination to the full Senate floor.

• The committee voted along party lines, with no Democratic support.

The big picture: Atkins will be an SEC boomerang, one who has worked closely with the two commissioners who are charting a new direction for the agency, Mark Uyeda and Hester Peirce.

Friction point: The banking committee's ranking member, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is sending a letter to SEC's Office of Inspector General, asking it to investigate whether or not the White House had undue influence on the SEC in its recent change of course.

• She focuses on Atkins as well, noting that he has several million dollars of crypto-related investments. "While he has committed to divesting his assets if confirmed, questions remain about whether his investments have ties to cases recently dismissed or paused by the SEC," Warren writes.

Flashback: Atkins' hearing before the committee was last week.

Worthy of your time: His written testimony.

When President Trump signed the EO for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve last month, he ordered a report from U.S. agencies on how much BTC they hold and where it is.

• The report was due in 30 days, which is April 5. And that's a Saturday, so it would be due Monday.

Why it matters: If a lot of bitcoins get locked up by the U.S. government, that could cause a move up for the asset.

• Yes, but: That bounce would likely be short-lived.
• Notably, a spokesperson for the White House tells us the reports don't have to be made public.

The big picture: In case you missed it, the president announced a massive tariff plan last night, which has kicked off a global trade war.

• Assets around the world were jolted, and bitcoin hasn't been immune: BTC is down over 5% over the last 24 hours, hovering around $82,000.
• That's way, way off from the $108,786 it hit Jan. 20. The shine has come off the crypto president.

What they're saying: Wintermute's OTC desk told us last night that the market "responded cautiously" to the announcement, and other sources said you just have to wait and see. "There's still considerable uncertainty ahead," Wintermute noted.

• "Gold prices rallied to all-time highs, while bitcoin and crypto assets were sold — once again proving that BTC is far from being viewed as a safe haven asset," Ravi Doshi of FalconX tells Axios via a spokesperson.
• Doshi added that their OTC desk is seeing a lot of traders looking for downside protection.

The intrigue: Speaking of hedging, the two most popular futures positions on Deribit now are absolutely neck and neck but pointed in opposite directions.

• The most popular position, with 10,356 orders, is an $80,000 put on BTC, which is a bet that the asset goes lower.
• But there are also 10,311 calls at $100,000, which is a bet that it goes higher. (The notional value of both bets is pretty much even, too.)

USDC stablecoin issuer Circle filed for an IPO Tuesday, two years after a failed attempt to go public via SPAC.

• Why it matters: Recent stock market volatility (at least before today) hasn't deterred fintechs looking to go public.

Zoom in: Circle is the third fintech to file for an IPO in the past month, following Klarna and eToro.

• The company reported $1.7 billion in revenue and reserve income in 2024, up from $1.5 billion a year prior, according to its S-1.
• It also reported $156 million in net income and $285 million of adjusted EBITDA last year.

Yes, but: That was down from $268 million in net income and $395 million of adjusted EBITDA in 2023.

Zoom in: It plans to list on the NYSE under the ticker symbol CRCL.

• JPMorgan and Citigroup are lead underwriters for the offering.
• Barclays, Deutsche Bank and SG Americas are book runners, with BNY Capital Markets, Canaccord Genuity, Needham & Co., Oppenheimer & Co. and Santander serving as co-managers.

Worthy of your time: Matt Levine explains why Circle is different than Tether.