Crypto Week: US House of Representatives passes GENIUS Act in boost for stablecoins, digital assets and US dollar
While the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act is likely to be signed into law by Trump in a ceremony on Friday, the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act will now face a vote in the Senate, before reaching Trump's desk for a presidential assent.
To be sure, the road to the passage of the three bills was not smooth, since 12 hardliners scuttled a procedural vote on the GENIUS Act on Tuesday, prompting House Speaker Mike Johnson to halt the process.
However, this was salvaged by hectic parleying and an assurance that there will not be an ambiguity over the Federal Reserve's issuance of CBDC, which is feared to be a tool of federal snooping in the hands of bureaucrats.
The US House of Representatives passed the GENIUS Act with a 308-122 vote on Thursday. The CLARITY Act was passed with a 294-134 vote, and the Anti-CBDC Act was passed 219-210 by the House.
Republican representative and Majority Whip Tom Emmer, who backed the Anti-CBDC Act, laid down the three key parameters that have defined crypto legislation in America, namely, regulatory certainty, privacy and dollar dominance.
In a statement after the passage of the three bills, he said, 'President Trump and this Congress are correcting course (from Joe Biden administration's anti-crypto crusade) and unleashing America's digital asset potential with historic, transformative legislation.'
The three bills passed by the House 'deliver on the America First digital assets agenda by solidifying the dollar's dominance as the world's reserve currency, spurring innovation by creating regulatory certainty with clear market structure and ensuring any development of digital money reflects our American values of privacy, individual sovereignty, and free market competitiveness,' he said.
.@POTUS promised to make America the crypto capital of the world, and today we delivered. pic.twitter.com/I9B22QogIF
— Tom Emmer (@GOPMajorityWhip) July 17, 2025
The passage of the GENIUS Act paves the way for the issuance of stablecoins — asset-backed cryptocurrency. In the case of America, stablecoins are expected to be indexed to the US dollar or US Treasury bills to reinforce confidence. The Trump administration is also betting on stablecoins to re-emphasise the importance of the US dollar as the world's reserve currency amid fears of dedollarisation raised after the US froze Russian assets after the onset of the Russia-Ukraine War in 2022. This has prompted countries to step up gold purchases and diversify away from the US dollar as a store of value, to retain access to reserves in the scenario of a unilateral asset freeze in the future.
Trump is expected to sign the bill into an Act in a ceremony to be held on Friday. 'I'm excited President Trump will soon sign Senator Bill Hagerty's GENIUS Act into law establishing a federally regulated, U.S.-dollar-backed stablecoin,' said House Committee on Financial Services Chairman French Hill.
The Anti-CBDC Act and CLARITY Act Bills will now face Senate scrutiny. If passed, these will be signed into law by Trump.
Bitcoin prices continued to hover around the $118,000 mark, according to CoinMarketCap. The digital token Ethereum's price rose 19 per cent over the past 7 days to $3,602.31 apiece at 2:17 pm IST on Friday, according to exchange data.
Stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group's stock price rose 0.81 per cent to $235.08 apiece.
Overall, the crypto industry has been in expansion mode to capitalise on the positive momentum for digital assets under the Trump administration. The US president has also revealed earnings from crypto holdings such as the $TRUMP and $MELANIA memecoins. His sons have floated the World Liberty Financial crypto finance platform which has garnered investments to the tune of $52.1 million from across the globe in its token $WLFI.
On Thursday, the Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company revealed plans to list on the tech-focused Nasdaq stock exchange through the special purpose acquisition company mode. Bitcoin Standard plans to merge with an SPAC backed by the US-based investment company Cantor Fitzgerald. An SPAC or blank cheque company raises through an initial public offering money to merge with another company and take it public.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's son Brandon Lutnick serves as chairman at Cantor Fitzgerald.
US-backed stablecoin USDT issuer Tether has forayed into the commodities space
by purchasing Adecoagro, a pan-South American agricultural giant to boost its balance sheet, besides paving the way for alternative payments for commodities settlements, Reuters reported.
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