Major fund manager has a one-word 'genius' response to new financial bill

Major fund manager has a one-word 'genius' response to new financial bill originally appeared on TheStreet.

Investors still parking cash in USDT may want to rethink that strategy, according to Maelstrom Managing Partner and co-founder Akshat Vaidya.

Speaking with TheStreet Roundtable, Vaidya revealed he “hasn’t used USDT in years,” shifting first to USDC and USDe for all of Maelstrom’s deployments.

Maelstrom is a venture fund managed by the family office of Arthur Hayes — co-founder of BitMEX — building a long-term portfolio of venture-stage infrastructure companies powering decentralization

“Maybe I’m a little bit paranoid, but I don’t see why you would use USDT over USDC,” he said, calling the looming GENIUS Act a potential “not-chosen stepchild” moment for Tether.

Offshore opacity a systemic concern

Vaidya believes Washington will try to “convince Tether to come onshore and rebuild its business here in the US.”

The GENIUS Act could give regulators exactly that leverage. “There should be a carrot-and-stick model to bring that transparency back home because it is a bit of a systemic risk if everything’s offshore,” he warned.

The GENIUS Act, passed by the U.S. Senate on June 17, aims to impose strict reserve-backing rules, audited disclosures and anti-money-laundering requirements on stablecoin issuers. The bill now moves to the House of Representatives for a vote.

Tether is incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, yet most USDT liquidity ultimately rides U.S. dollar payment rails. If the bill passes in its current form, Vaidya expects U.S. authorities to demand fuller reserve disclosures and real-time audits — requirements the stablecoin giant has so far resisted.

Failing to comply could squeeze USDT’s access to American banking partners and drain a portion of its market share.

Why Maelstrom walked away

For Maelstrom, the unknowns outweigh the convenience USDT offers. “You’re taking a little bit of a risk — not because I know it’s a major risk, but because we don’t have enough information to know if it is or not,” Vaidya said. That information gap, he added, is itself a risk.

While the final language of the GENIUS Act is still being negotiated, Vaidya’s message to individual holders is clear: transparency matters.

“Let’s see what the final version of this bill looks like once it’s actually passed,” he said, “but I would switch over.”

Major fund manager has a one-word 'genius' response to new financial bill first appeared on TheStreet on Jun 26, 2025

This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jun 26, 2025, where it first appeared.