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In the US, key Democrat senators have softened their position on the bipartisan stablecoin regulation, meaning that it can progress to the next stage in the legislative process.
The vote marks a significant step forward for legislation that has been months in the making, and has included efforts to cooperate between both Republican and Democrat senators.
“Stablecoin regulation is a bipartisan issue, this bill reflects the bipartisan consensus on this issue,” said John Thune (R-SD), Senate majority leader, while introducing the vote.
The GENIUS Act’s intention is to instil a legal framework for crypto-assets, imposing clear rules around consumer protections, financial stability and national security as the use of dollar-pegged digital tokens for payments continues to grow.
Led by Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and co-sponsored by Tim Scott (R-SC), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), the bill advanced out of the Senate Banking Committee in March with an 18-6 vote, and has now garnered support from further Democrat senators who had previously not been in favour.
Scott said that the advancement of the bill “is a welcome and long-overdue step toward asserting US leadership in digital assets. After playing politics, I’m glad many of my Democratic colleagues have returned to the table and are supporting a bipartisan product they helped shape.”
He continued that the US is now “one step closer to delivering a regulatory framework that keeps innovation in America, protects consumers, and safeguards our national security”.
Rules of the road
The 66-32 vote has been met with jubilation from the industry. Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, said that it is a “huge win for crypto”.
Meanwhile, Ji Kim, president and acting CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation, said that the “successful vote to advance Senate consideration of GENIUS is truly historic and demonstrates exactly how Congress is meant to work”.
Sceptics who have relented include Mark Warner, (D-VA), who said that the US “can’t afford to keep standing on the sidelines”, given that the value of the stablecoin market has increased to as much as $250bn.
“We need clear rules of the road to protect consumers, defend national security and support responsible innovation,” he said.
“The GENIUS Act is a meaningful step forward. It sets high standards for issuers, limits big tech overreach, and creates a safer, more transparent framework for digital assets. It’s not perfect, but it’s far better than the status quo.”
He added that he shares his colleagues’ “very real concerns” about the potential for corruption involving the use of crypto technologies by President Trump and his family, but insisted that “we cannot allow that corruption to blind us to the broader reality: blockchain technology is here to stay”.
“If American lawmakers don’t shape it, others will, and not in ways that serve our interests or democratic values. Innovation in this space is happening, with or without us. We have a responsibility to ensure it happens safely, transparently, and in a way that advances US economic and national security interests. The GENIUS Act will help get us started.”
What is the bill?
The GENIUS Act aims to establish consumer protections for payment stablecoins by requiring full reserve backing with US dollars or similarly liquid assets.
Should it pass, issuers would need to provide monthly reserve disclosures and audited financials if their market cap exceeds $50bn, and the legislation also prohibits misleading claims about government backing and restricts the use of riskier assets in reserves.
State-regulated issuers above a $10bn threshold would face added federal oversight, and in bankruptcy, stablecoin holders would have priority claims on reserves.
The bill also has a national security angle, and classifies stablecoin issuers as financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act, necessitating anti-money laundering (AML) and sanctions compliance, while requiring that issuers must also be able to freeze or burn tokens on lawful orders.
Foreign issuers that fail to comply would risk being barred from US markets, and supporters also say that the bill would curb illicit finance, safeguard consumers and strengthen the dollar’s role in global digital payments.
'Worse than no bill'
The bill was not able to garner complete bipartisan backing. One of its biggest opponents is former presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who has been one of crypto’s biggest sceptics.
“This weak bill is worse than no bill at all,” she said during a speech on the Senate floor. “So, what has changed with the bill? Not much. Its basic flaws remain unaddressed.”
During her intervention, the senator warned that “the GENIUS Act will accelerate Trump’s corruption by supercharging the size of the stablecoin market and the reach and profitability of USD1. And, for the first time in American history, it also makes our president, Donald Trump, the regulator of his own financial product.”
“This Congress should be a check on the President. Congress should not be making it even easier for him to line his pockets with even more shady crypto cash,” she said.
“If Congress does not fix this issue here, today, then it will be aiding and abetting his corruption every time President Trump’s stablecoin is used to finance a corrupt deal.”
