US lawmakers have passed the country’s first-ever national cryptocurrency legislation, setting regulations for stablecoins.
In a historic vote in the House of Representatives, Congress approved rules that will bring cryptocurrency more into the mainstream by outlining specific regulations aimed at making stablecoins more accessible and mainstream.
Stablecoins – a type of cryptocurrency where the value of the digital asset is pegged to a reference asset, such as the dollar – are seen as one of the safer forms of cryptocurrency.
The Genius Act, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump on Friday, makes it easier for banks and other entities to issue these coins and is expected to increase public trust in the assets and grow the industry overall.
Trump has long been a supporter of cryptocurrency, even launching his own crypto meme coin earlier this year.
“I pledged that we would bring back American liberty and leadership and make the United States the crypto capital of the world. And that’s what we’ve done under the Trump administration,” he said at the signing.
The Bill received bipartisan support, although it temporarily stalled for nine hours following a stalemate among House Republicans.
“Our years of diligent work in Congress to bring clarity to payment stablecoins have reached a historic turning point. President Trump called on Congress to send him landmark legislation to his desk by August, and we have delivered,” Republican Rep. French Hill, the chairman of the House’s Financial Services Committee, said in a statement.
However, some Democrats, including Rep. Maxine Waters, the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, have slammed the bill, pointing to a firm with ties to the Trump family that recently launched its own stablecoin and could benefit from the currency being more widely used.
“The Unstable Act creates the appearance of a federal framework for stablecoins, but it does not provide the federal government with the full authority it needs,” Waters said Thursday before the vote.
Federal regulators will now have six months to come up with specific regulations. The bill is one of three pieces of cryptocurrency legislation advancing in Washington that is backed by Trump.
The House also passed the Clarity Act, which sets the rules for assets that are overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission or commodities that are regulated by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission. The measure will now head to the Senate for further scrutiny.
English (US) ·