Table of Contents
- GENIUS Bill Approved by Senate
- Legislative Hurdles of the GENIUS Bill
- Next Stop: STABLE Bill
- Institutions and Tech Giants Are Watching
GENIUS Bill Approved by Senate
The bill’s sponsor, Republican Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, stated that once the GENIUS Bill officially becomes law, businesses and individuals across the United States will be able to complete payments almost instantly, no longer having to wait several days or even weeks. He emphasized that the bill represents America’s move toward becoming a “global leader in cryptocurrency.”
Additionally, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pointed out that if stablecoin legislation is enacted, the stablecoin market is expected to expand to $3.7 trillion by the end of this century. Former President Trump’s AI and cryptocurrency czar David Sacks also expressed support for this bill in May, stating that Trump would sign the Republican-led stablecoin legislation.
Legislative Hurdles of the GENIUS Bill
This bill was initially defeated in the Senate’s cloture vote in May, primarily due to concerns raised by some Democratic senators regarding Trump’s close ties to the cryptocurrency industry. The Trump family has a close relationship with the stablecoin project World Liberty Financial (WLFI), which launched a USD1 stablecoin in March this year. According to previous reports from Zombit, Trump himself earned over $50 million from WLFI’s token sale and holds as many as 15.75 billion WLFI tokens, which, based on the fundraising price of $0.015, are valued at approximately $235 million.
Next Stop: STABLE Bill
The House version of the GENIUS Bill is the STABLE Bill, which is expected to be further debated in the House. Although the two bills have different names and slightly differing content, they may ultimately be consolidated into a unified bill for the President’s signature. However, given that the Republicans hold only a slight majority in the House, there remains uncertainty about whether the bill can pass smoothly. Meanwhile, the House is also discussing another related piece of legislation, the CLARITY Bill, aimed at clarifying the market structure and regulatory status of cryptocurrency assets. This bill was passed by the Agriculture and Financial Services Committee last week and is expected to enter the voting process in the House, but it also faces opposition from some Democratic senators.
Institutions and Tech Giants Are Watching
Reports indicate that companies including Apple, Google, Airbnb, and the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) are closely monitoring the developments in stablecoin legislation and assessing whether to launch their own stablecoins. There are even senators within the Senate questioning whether Meta is preparing to “restart its stablecoin project,” similar to the previously shelved Libra.
