Deng Tong, Jinse Finance
On Tuesday local time, the U.S. Senate passed the milestone GENIUS Act, advancing federal government regulatory efforts on stablecoins, and pressuring the House of Representatives to plan the next phase of national digital asset regulatory efforts.
This is the first time the Senate has passed significant cryptocurrency legislation. Bill Hagerty, the initiator of the GENIUS Act, thanked some Senate colleagues for their support before the formal vote. Next, the House of Representatives needs to decide how to proceed. Currently, it is unclear whether this stablecoin bill can gain sufficient support to pass in the House, as the Republicans hold a slightly higher majority.
What profound impacts will the GENIUS Act have on the crypto industry? How do industry insiders view the passage of this bill?
[The rest of the translation follows the same professional and accurate approach, maintaining the original structure and meaning while translating into clear English.]Senator Elizabeth Warren has been one of the most outspoken opponents, warning that the bill could "actively facilitate" abuses related to Trump's cryptocurrency business.
Amanda Fischer, Policy Director and COO of "Better Markets", believes that the GENIUS Act passed by the Senate puts consumers, investors, and the economy at risk. Stablecoins are not the "future of payment". Instead, they represent an unstable future, with little regard for unsuspecting average Americans and the economic guardrails they depend on. The GENIUS Act advocates for the use of stablecoins but fails to address issues in the crypto market over the past months, such as stablecoin companies being prone to bank runs, bankruptcies, and bailouts requiring taxpayer funding. The bill also encourages the use of stablecoins for goods and services without applying any consumer protection laws in the payment domain. Under the proposed legislation, large tech companies and non-financial firms might issue their own currencies, raising concerns about fair competition, data privacy, and surveillance. The GENIUS Act and its supporters also fail to address numerous national security risks unique to cryptocurrencies while providing loopholes for opaque foreign stablecoins like Tether. The House should reject this legislation.
On the other hand, critics of the GENIUS Act argue that the bill undermines the decentralization of cryptocurrencies and could lead to corruption, such as officials favoring specific stablecoins under the new regulations.
Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore), opposing the current bill, stated: "We need to establish guardrails to ensure government officials do not publicly demand people buy their coins to increase personal or family profits. Where are the guardrails in this bill? They simply do not exist."
Some critics also point out that the bill grants too many entities the ability to create new stablecoins, which could make enforcing regulatory standards more difficult.
Supporters:
Supporters say that this will help protect investors and regulate the stablecoin market, ensuring issuers have the reserves needed to give stablecoins their value.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Besent posted on social media, "A thriving stablecoin ecosystem will drive private sector demand for U.S. Treasury bonds—the asset backing for stablecoins. This new demand could lower government borrowing costs and help control national debt. It could also open the door to a digital asset economy based on the dollar for millions of global users. This is a win-win-win situation for all parties: the private sector benefits; the U.S. Treasury benefits; consumers benefit. This is the result of wise, innovation-supporting legislation."
Bill Hagerty, the Tennessee Republican Senator who proposed the bill, stated: "If we do not take action now, these benefits will disappear, and we will fall behind in global competitiveness. Without a regulatory framework, stablecoin innovation will flourish overseas, not in the United States!"
Republican Senator Hagerty said: "The passage of this bill brings the United States one step closer to becoming a global leader in the cryptocurrency field. The GENIUS Act establishes a growth-friendly regulatory framework for payment stablecoins. This bill will consolidate the dollar's dominant position, protect consumer rights, and drive demand for U.S. Treasury bonds."
Paul Grewal, Coinbase's Chief Legal Officer, said: "A year ago, I thought this was just a wild fantasy. Look how far we've come."
Patrick Gerhart, Telcoin's President of Banking, wrote in an email that the GENIUS Act will be a significant shift in the stablecoin landscape. "It's not about quantity, but quality. Regulation opens the door for new issuers, but compliance, interoperability, and utility will ultimately determine the winners. It's not just about who has the most funding or the loudest brand, but who can integrate with existing financial infrastructure, meet regulatory expectations, and serve local populations." Gerhart noted that while banks and large tech platforms might have initial advantages, "true long-term value will come from stablecoins that enable programmable, low-cost, and mobile-first financial services."
Amanda Tuminelli, Executive Director and Chief Legal Officer of the DeFi Education Fund, stated in a similar statement: "This is a victory for the United States, a victory for innovation, and an important step towards appropriate regulation of digital assets."
Ryan Peters, Assistant Professor at Tulane University's Freeman Business School, pointed out that GENIUS is a necessary first step towards a mature stablecoin infrastructure. Whether stablecoins can become a resilient payment medium or fail in their first true stress test depends entirely on policymakers' commitment to subsequent actions.
Erbil Karaman, co-founder of PayFi network Huma Finance, believes that the Senate's passage of the GENIUS Act will be a "key turning point" and predicts that stablecoins will "go beyond speculative trading to become critical financial infrastructure". He wrote in an email that the DeFi summer is coming, and it will be very different from previous summers.
Bezalel Eithan Raviv, CEO of blockchain security company Lionsgate Network, stated: "Overall, the bill's effect will be better than any current legislation."
Sources: Jinse Finance, Reuters, Jin10 Data, CoinTelegraph, CNBC, Covington, CoinDesk, Payments Dive, Block, Better Markets, etc.
