The U.S. Senate passed the GENIUS Act, a landmark bipartisan stablecoin bill, in a 68–30 vote, marking a major milestone in U.S. crypto regulation, according to Jesse Hamilton of CoinDesk. The legislation, which sets strict standards for stablecoin issuers—including reserve backing, transparency, and compliance measures—now heads to the House, where it may face revisions. While praised by many in the crypto industry as a crucial step toward regulatory clarity, critics like Sen. Elizabeth Warren warn of loopholes and conflicts of interest. The bill is closely tied to broader crypto legislation, including the House’s Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, with both seen as essential to shaping the future of digital finance in the U.S. Hamilton writes:
The overwhelming bipartisan passage of the U.S. Senate’s stablecoin bill, with a 68-30 final vote that saw a huge surge of Democrats joining their Republican counterparts on Tuesday, sets a new high-water mark of crypto policy efforts in the U.S. as the legislation now heads to the House of Representatives. […]
As written, the bill would set up guardrails around the approval and supervision of U.S. issuers of stablecoins, the dollar-based tokens such as the ones backed by Circle, Ripple and Tether. Firms making these digital assets available to U.S. users would have to meet stringent reserve demands, transparency requirements, money-laundering compliance and regulatory supervision that’s also likely to include new capital rules. […]
The crypto industry’s lobbyists turn now to the House on both those issues. A new report on Tuesday from TRM Labs says that stablecoins represent more than 60% of current crypto transactions, and more than 90% of those coins are pegged to the U.S. dollar — dominated by USDC and USDT.
“Although TRM estimates that 99% of stablecoin activity is licit, their speed, scale, and liquidity have made them appealing for illicit uses, including ransomware payments, fraud, and terrorist financing,” the analytical organization noted.
Illicit finance represents one of the major complaints of critics in Congress.
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