The Daily: Crypto industry cheers 'historic' stablecoin bill progress, Microsoft adds real-time blockchain data to Fabric, and more

The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter,  The Daily , which comes out on weekday afternoons.

Happy Tuesday! On the latest episode of The Crypto Beat podcast, PayPal's digital asset chief Jose Fernandez da Ponte sat down to discuss its crypto vision — from PYUSD and payment use cases to its broader push into blockchain-based finance. 

In today's newsletter, the U.S. Senate votes to move forward on landmark stablecoin legislation, Microsoft adds real-time blockchain data to its Fabric analytics platform, Argentina's President Javier Milei disbands the unit probing his LIBRA memecoin scandal, and more.

Meanwhile, " don't sleep on the executive orders ," analysts warn ahead of President Trump's memecoin gala and Vice President Vance's Bitcoin 2025 keynote.

Let's get started.

Crypto industry cheers progress on 'historic' stablecoin legislation as Senate advances GENIUS Act

The U.S. Senate voted 66-32 to advance the GENIUS Act , marking a major step toward stablecoin legislation.

• The bill cleared the 60-vote threshold with bipartisan support, including 16 Democrats who flipped from opposing it last week.
• The legislation would mandate full backing of stablecoins with U.S. dollars or similar highly liquid assets and requires annual audits for issuers with market capitalizations exceeding $50 billion.
• Crypto leaders and lawmakers hailed the vote as a "historic" win that could help "ensure U.S. dollar dominance."
• "This groundbreaking, bipartisan legislation will bring America's payment system into the 21st century," Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty, who led the legislation, said.
• Meanwhile, Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren criticized the bill for overlooking President Trump's crypto ties and World Liberty Financial's USD1 stablecoin.
• In the hours leading up to the vote, crypto supporters sent more than 60,000 emails to senators urging them to support the bill, according to advocacy group Stand With Crypto.
• Following Monday night's cloture vote, lawmakers must approve any potential amendments before holding a final vote.

Microsoft adds real-time blockchain data to Fabric through Space and Time integration

Microsoft has partnered with crypto startup Space and Time to offer real-time, verifiable blockchain data feeds on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Sui directly within its Azure-powered Fabric analytics platform.

• Space and Time uses zero-knowledge proofs and a decentralized network of validators to index blockchain data, allowing sub-second queries through its "Proof of SQL" system.
• Neither party is charging or paying for the integration, though Microsoft previously backed Space and Time via its venture arm M12, participating in its $20 million Series A and leading the startup's 2022 strategic funding round.
• The integration positions Microsoft to serve enterprises and banks with onchain insights, bridging traditional data systems with blockchain via a web3-native provider, Space and Time CEO Nate Holiday said.

Argentina's president disbands unit probing LIBRA memecoin scandal

Argentina's government has shut down the LIBRA memecoin task force just days after a judge ordered President Javier Milei and his sister’s bank accounts unsealed, according to a statement issued by the country's Justice Minister.

• The move follows Milei's public promotion of the Solana-based LIBRA token on social media, which surged to a $2 billion market cap before crashing over 90% amid his retraction.
• Kelsier Ventures CEO Hayden Davis claimed he paid Karina Milei to influence her brother ahead of LIBRA's launch, prompting scrutiny and a formal investigation.
• Before the unit's closure, prosecutors were also reviewing video evidence of the mother and sister of one of the co-founders allegedly emptying bank safe-deposit boxes the day after Milei promoted the token.

Standard Chartered says sovereigns' indirect bitcoin exposure backs its $500,000 target

Standard Chartered says government entities, including France, Saudi Arabia, and U.S. state pensions, boosted their Strategy share holdings in Q1, signaling rising sovereign interest in indirect bitcoin exposure .

• The bank's Head of Digital Assets Research, Geoffrey Kendrick, argues this growing MSTR adoption supports its bold $500,000 bitcoin price target by 2029, before President Trump leaves office.
• While direct Bitcoin ETF ownership in the latest quarterly 13F filing reports was "disappointing," MSTR buying by sovereigns was "very encouraging" and suggests they're using it as a proxy where regulations bar direct holdings, the analyst said.
• Expanding institutional access and falling volatility will drive portfolios to increase bitcoin allocations over time, he added.

Bancor sues Uniswap for patent infringement over DEX smart contract tech

Bancor developers have filed a lawsuit against Uniswap Labs and the Uniswap Foundation, accusing them of infringing on decentralized exchange patents tied to its 2017 invention of the constant product automated market maker model.

• The suit alleges Uniswap's protocol unlawfully uses Bancor's core smart contract design for permissionless token swaps and has "profited greatly" from the unauthorized use.
• Bancor argues that unchecked infringement by major players like Uniswap threatens broader DeFi innovation, vowing to defend its intellectual property and seeking unspecified damages.

In the next 24 hours

• The latest UK CPI inflation figures are due at 2 a.m. ET on Wednesday. Est. MoM 1.1%; Core 1.2%. Est. YoY 3.3%; Core 3.6%. U.S. mortgage data follow at 7 a.m.
• U.S. FOMC members Thomas Barkin and Michelle Bowman will speak at 12 p.m. and 12:15 p.m., respectively.
• Solana Accelerate continues in New York.

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