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KEY TAKEAWAYS
- President Donald Trump on Friday signed the GENIUS Act into law.
- The GENIUS Act establishes a regulatory framework for stablecoins and represents an important milestone for the crypto industry and the president’s crypto agenda.
- There are two other bills passed by the House this week that could soon follow the GENIUS Act to Trump’s desk, pending Senate approval: the CLARITY Act and Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act.
President Donald Trump on Friday signed the GENIUS Act into law, in a major milestone for the crypto industry and the president’s stated goal of reshaping American crypto policy.
The GENIUS Act establishes a framework for private companies to issue stablecoins, cryptocurrencies with a value pegged to another currency or financial asset such as the U.S. dollar, paving the way for their use to become more accessible and mainstream.
“This could be perhaps the greatest revolution in financial technology since the birth of the internet itself,” said Trump at the signing ceremony Friday.
Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins, who was appointed by President Trump and is known for his support of crypto, called the GENIUS Act’s passage into law “a monumental step forward for crypto assets, financial markets, and our country.”
“The GENIUS Act provides necessary guidance for a crucial element of the emerging crypto asset ecosystem,” Atkins said.
The price of Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, continued to climb Friday and was recently up about 3% at over $3,500 amid optimism the crypto-friendly legislation could give digital assets increased legitimacy. The price of Bitcoin was slightly lower, trading at around $117,000 after topping $120,000 recently.
Shares of Circle Internet Group (CRCL), the largest U.S. stablecoin issuer after Tether, were little-changed in after-hours trading, as were shares of several other crypto-related companies including Strategy (MSTR), crypto miner MARA Holdings (MARA), and Coinbase Global (COIN), the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S.
Two other bills that were passed in a hectic week for voting on crypto, dubbed “Crypto Week” by the House of Representatives, still require Senate approval before they can move to Trump’s desk. They are the CLARITY Act, which would establish a framework for cryptocurrency regulation, and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, which would prevent the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency.
This article has been updated since it was first published to include additional information and reflect more recent price values.
