Senate Banking Committee Advances Crypto Regulatory Bill Amid Union and Banking Opposition

Major labor unions are pressing senators to reject a cryptocurrency regulatory bill scheduled for an initial vote on Thursday. The AFL-CIO, Service Employees International Union, American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees sent a letter to all senators on Friday warning that the bill could jeopardize retirement accounts for millions of workers.

The letter from the SEIU, AFT, NEA and AFSCME was first seen by CNBC.

The AFL-CIO separately sent an email to Banking Committee members the same day. " The AFL-CIO said in its email that "absent sufficient regulation, embedding cryptocurrencies ... " The push from unions comes ahead of the Senate Banking Committee's vote on the crypto bill scheduled for Thursday.

As of Monday evening, the Senate Banking Committee had yet to release final legislative text for the bill. Democrats have been working with Republicans on the bill over the last few months. It is not clear if any Democrats will back the measure given ongoing concerns about security and ethics provisions in the bill.

Labor groups are not the only opponents. The banking industry is opposing a provision in the bill that it says would threaten bank deposits by allowing crypto companies to offer payment on stablecoin holdings similar to interest. The crypto industry has pushed back, saying the proposed agreement would ban such practices.

CNBC reported that the coordinated labor campaign reflects deep skepticism among traditional worker organizations toward integrating volatile digital assets into regulated financial systems that hold retirement savings.