Maxine Waters Warns GOP Crypto Bills Could Trigger America’s First Crypto-Financial Crisis

The United States is heading for its first crypto-financial crisis thanks to “GOP crypto bills” set to advance through Congress this week, Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA) said in a July 14 op-ed for MSNBC.

On Day 3 of Anti-Crypto Corruption Week, I’m sounding the alarm in my @MSNBC op-ed: GOP crypto bills don’t just fail to protect consumers, they greenlight Trump’s billion-dollar crypto grift and invite the next financial crisis.

Read more: https://t.co/TEBKJsQjIy pic.twitter.com/j3qDPP8FeM

— Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) July 15, 2025

Maxine Waters Warns of First Crypto Financial Crisis

Titled “My colleagues in Congress are making a mistake advancing these crypto bills,” Waters’ piece slams both the GENIUS Act and the CLARITY Act as “especially dangerous.”

“The CLARITY and GENIUS bills wrap themselves in the flag of innovation, but all they really do is replicate the same mess that led to past financial crises: They call for few regulations, minimal enforcement, weak consumer protections, and more industry consolidation,” Waters said.

The congresswoman further criticized the bills as potential vehicles that would “legalize the unprecedented crypto corruption” by U.S. President Donald Trump after he launched his own $TRUMP memecoin in January 2025.

“What we’re witnessing isn’t just unethical; it’s the largest fraud and abuse of power in modern history,” Waters wrote.

“If these bills become law, America will eventually face its first crypto-financial crisis,” she added. “And when that happens, my Republican colleagues will likely point fingers at everyone but themselves, just as they’ve always done, and say they had no idea this could happen.”

Political Polarization Over Crypto Heats Up

News of Waters’ op-ed comes as Republicans acknowledge the first-ever “Crypto Week” on Capitol Hill as digital asset legislation moves through Congress.

In response, Waters and fellow Congressman Stephen Lynch (D-MA) announced that the week of July 14 would also be known as “Anti-Crypto Corruption Week” in opposition to their political opponents’ mobilization to pass crypto legislation.

“These bills would make Congress complicit in Trump’s unprecedented crypto scam—one that has personally enriched himself, his entire family, and the billionaire insiders in his cabinet, all while defrauding investors,” Waters said in a July 11 statement.

However, it is still unclear just which pieces of crypto legislation will make it to the Oval Office for ratification.