The United States House of Representatives on Thursday (July 17) passed the Stablecoin Act, also known as the GENIUS Act, which establishes a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies pegged to the US dollar. The bill has been sent to President Trump for his signature, with expectations that it will be signed into law, marking a crucial milestone in US digital asset policy.
Stablecoins are designed to maintain price stability and are typically pegged to the US dollar at a 1:1 ratio, widely used in fund transfers and real-time payment transactions.
According to the bill, all stablecoins in the future must be backed by liquid assets such as US dollars and short-term US Treasury bonds, and issuing institutions are required to publicly disclose their reserve portfolios monthly. The bill received bipartisan support with a vote of 308 to 122.
On the same day, the House also passed two other cryptocurrency-related bills: the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which clarifies the standards for determining whether crypto assets are securities or commodities and delineates the regulatory scope of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance Act, which prohibits the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC). These two bills are still pending approval by the Senate before they can be sent to the president for signing.
Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association and former Commodity Futures Trading Commission official, called this development a “decisive moment in the US digital asset policy process”.
The US cryptocurrency industry has long called for clear legislation on digital asset rules, believing that clear regulations will help drive the widespread use of tokens such as stablecoins. According to statistics, the industry invested over $1.19 billion in supporting pro-crypto candidates in last year’s midterm elections and has been working to make this issue a bipartisan focus.
Since returning to the White House, President Trump has notably shifted towards a more crypto-friendly policy. He has not only publicly supported Bitcoin and digital innovation but also criticized the previous Democratic administration for suppressing the cryptocurrency industry.
In January of this year, he signed an executive order prohibiting the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC, calling it a “potential surveillance tool”. He then established the “Digital Assets Policy Working Group”, which was tasked with submitting regulatory and industry policy recommendations within 180 days. In March, he issued another order initiating the “National Bitcoin Reserve” and “Digital Asset Reserve Warehouse” programs, formally integrating crypto assets into the US national strategy.
(This article is based on related reports from Reuters)