Meta's Stablecoin Plan Questioned by Democrats Ahead of Key Senate Vote

Senate Democrats Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal want Meta to explain what its stablecoin plans are.

In a letter sent to the social media giant on Wednesday, the lawmakers asked the company formerly known as Facebook to detail its stablecoin ambitions and pointed to previous reports about issues Meta has had with scams, "alleged anticompetitive conduct," and privacy issues.

Meta is considering using stablecoins for payments, Fortune reported last month.

"If Meta controlled its own stablecoin, the company could further pry into consumers’ transactions and commercial activity," the letter said. "The massive amounts of consumer data it would ingest could help Meta fuel surveillance pricing schemes on its platform, more intrusive targeted advertising, or otherwise help the company monetize sensitive private information through sales to third party data brokers."

The letter included a list of questions, including whether Meta is thinking about launching its own stablecoin, whether it or any entity it's affiliated with has lobbied for the Senate or House's stablecoin bill or otherwise provided feedback on the bill. It also asked whether Meta would push back against an amendment that would block big tech firms from affiliating with or owning a stablecoin issuer.

It also asked the company to explain how its new stablecoin plan might differ from the now-defunct Libra (later Diem) project Meta spearheaded in 2019.

"The company tried to issue its own private currency in 2019 — as part of the so-called Libra stablecoin project — and was met with overwhelming bipartisan and international opposition," the letter noted.

A spokesperson for Meta did not immediately return a request for comment.

The letter comes the same day the Senate is set to vote on the GENIUS Act, its stablecoin bill. Though Senate Majority Leader John Thune said weeks ago that the body might consider amendments to the bill, he told Politico earlier this week that the path for amendments was less clear.

The bill is likely to pass without any amendments. Senator Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, told CoinDesk last week he expected 16 Democrats to support the bill alongside a majority of Republicans, easily clearing the 60-vote procedural threshold for cloture.