Written by: Blockchain Knight
Welcome to 'Slate Sundays', a brand new weekly column launched by CryptoSlate, focusing on in-depth interviews, expert analysis, and thought-provoking commentary articles that go beyond headline news and explore the ideas and voices shaping the future of cryptocurrency.
If 2024 is the "Year of the Dragon", then 2025 will be the "Year of Stablecoins". Especially US dollar-backed digital assets have become the focus and even received top-level approval.
In March this year, a DeFi platform controlled by the Trump family launched the World Liberty stablecoin USD1. In May, Vice President JD Vance spoke at the Bitcoin Conference, clearly stating the government's positive stance on stablecoins, believing they can be a "force multiplier for American economic strength", which ignited the entire venue.
Subsequently, stablecoin issuer Circle completed a $20 billion IPO, triggering what the Bankless podcast duo called the "Summer of Stablecoins". Last week, the GENIUS Act was officially signed into law, becoming the first US legislation to directly regulate digital assets and opening a turning point for global finance.
Even Jamie Dimon, who personally harbors doubts about cryptocurrency, has joined this movement. Although he publicly stated that he does not understand the appeal of cryptocurrency, there has long been a gap between his words and actions: the largest US bank has been a pioneer in blockchain technology, developing its own stablecoin JPM Coin since 2019.
So, what do these latest developments in global value transfer mean? What impact will the GENIUS Act have on cryptocurrency, traditional finance (TradFi), and the future of the global economy? I have invited experts from technology, legal, and financial fields to interpret this and analyze potential technological advances in the coming years.
Core Summary: What is the GENIUS Act?
If you've been isolated from the world, let me now lead you out of the fog. The full name of the GENIUS Act is the "Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act of 2025", but the word "GENIUS" is more catchy. This is the first comprehensive federal law in the United States to regulate "payment stablecoins" (digital tokens pegged to fiat currency).
The GENIUS Act establishes a long-awaited licensing and regulatory framework for stablecoin issuers, requiring stablecoins to be backed by 100% reserves at a 1:1 ratio, implementing strict consumer protection measures, and laying a clear legal foundation for stablecoins to be integrated into the mainstream financial system.
The law also prohibits non-financial enterprises like Facebook and Google from issuing stablecoins without special approval, imposing severe penalties for violations (daily fines up to $200,000, with criminal penalties including up to 5 years in prison).
[The translation continues in the same manner for the rest of the text, maintaining the original structure and meaning while translating to English.]The impact of the 'GENIUS Act' spans the entire industry, with DeFi platforms and tokenized RWAs receiving significant attention. Orest Gavryliak, Chief Legal Officer of 1INCH Labs, a DEX aggregation pioneer, stated:
"Tokenization technology has become a core focus for traditional financial giants like BlackRock and JPMorgan, as it significantly optimizes the current financial standard system while greatly enhancing liquidity accessibility. Leveraging blockchain technology, tokenization transcends geographical limitations, integrating liquidity-limited and dispersed markets, and obtaining real-time, 24/7 uninterrupted multi-source liquidity."
Poncin further explained: "Banks will provide 'institutional-level opportunities' for clients, such as private equity trading and lending through staking. Small businesses can ultimately leverage the advantages of the remote work era to pay overseas employees at low costs. What we are about to witness is not just one, but hundreds of stablecoin 'killer applications' emerging, which will empower value exchange and creation in ways unimaginable just months ago."
Tokenized government bonds are showing significant growth. Stablecoin issuers like Tether hold substantial U.S. debt. We see increasing market interest in tokenizing traditional illiquid assets such as private credit and real estate to release liquidity. Simultaneously, infrastructure enabling RWAs to be composable with DeFi protocols continues to develop. The true innovation lies in making these assets programmable, which will give rise to new financial products, such as automated lending based on tokenized assets or smart contracts that can interact with real-world collateral.
Will the 'GENIUS Act' Trigger a 'Super DeFi Summer'?
An interesting clause in the 'GENIUS Act' is the prohibition of paying interest or yields to stablecoin holders, which could trigger a surge in DeFi yield opportunities. Perkins stated:
"According to the 'GENIUS Act', stablecoins do not pay interest to end-users, making them depreciating assets. Holders will seek yields, and this is where DeFi comes into play. If the Treasury's prediction is correct and trillions of dollars in stablecoins enter the market, we will witness a 'Super DeFi Summer' as users maximize returns through various yield strategies. Users will be attracted to yield-generating vaults and delegate AI agents to optimize returns."
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