Key Takeaways
U.S. House cleared stablecoin bill, GENIUS Act, advancing to Trump for final approval into law. SEC chair Atkins termed it a step to ‘spur innovation’ with clear rules.
The crypto industry has scored a historic win this week after the stablecoin bill was cleared by the U.S. House and set for President Donald Trump’s final approval into law.
House lawmakers voted 308-122 to adopt the GENIUS Act.
Over 100 Democrats joined Republicans to vote on the bill that is set to legitimize regulated payment stablecoins and integrate them with the broader financial system.
But it was not a walk in the park for Republicans.
A successful ‘crypto week’
Earlier this month, Republicans set the week of July 15 as ‘crypto week’ to advance key crypto bills, including the broader market structure bill, the CLARITY Act.
But the efforts faced two hiccups, an ‘anti-crypto corruption week’ opposition from Democrats led by Rep. Maxine Waters of California.
Waters and some of her colleagues wanted a presidential ethics provision to be included in the bills. They criticized the Trump family’s ‘corrupt’ deals in the sector.
Another procedural delay occurred after some House members voiced concerns about CBDC (central bank digital currency) inclusion in the future.
This briefly blocked the bills from being considered for House debate and floor vote, but Trump intervened afterward, setting the pace for the Thursday passage.
Even Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and top Democrats like former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined Republicans to pass the bill.
Market reactions
This will be the first ever crypto legislation to become law in the U.S., and the industry has welcomed it.
Ripple’s founder, Brad Garlinghouse, called it a ‘major financial bill’ since the 2008 financial crisis and added,
“This moment is a historic one, and I, for one, am looking forward to all that is to come as a result of this transformational legislation.”
For his part, Ripple’s legal chief, Stuart Alderoty, said the passage of the stablecoin bill would ‘foster innovation and protect consumers, ’ adding that’s what Americans have been asking for.
Coinbase’s founder, Brian Armstrong, also hailed the update as ‘a big day for crypto in DC’ but noted that the ‘job was not done’ until the CLARITY Act also reaches Trump’s desk.
Paul Atkins, SEC chair, also backed the passage and said,
“This is an important step to spur innovation by providing the crypto industry with clear rules of the road.”
