The US Senate approved the GENIUS Act (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act), a bill containing stablecoin regulations, by a vote of 68 to 30, an important step that will bring it to the final vote. In the vote held today, the Senate initiated the “cloture” procedure necessary for the bill to be discussed in later stages.
Republican Senator Tim Scott, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and a co-sponsor of the bill, called the development a major win for both innovation and national security. “This development did not happen by chance. We showed leadership. We are giving the strongest response to those who say Washington can’t act, to those who think the two parties can’t work together,” Scott said.
The bill requires stablecoin issuers to have their issued assets fully backed by U.S. dollars or similar liquid assets, imposes annual audit requirements for issuers with a market value of over $50 billion, and includes regulatory provisions for issuers based abroad.
President Donald Trump’s advisors also announced their support for the bill in an official statement on Monday. Trump had stated that he wanted the stablecoin bill to be submitted for his signature before August. The White House statement said, “If S. 1582 is submitted to the President in its current form, his senior advisors will recommend that he sign the bill.”
The Senate cloture vote paves the way for a final vote on Monday, but it could happen earlier if a timeline agreement is reached between Democratic and Republican leadership.
*This is not investment advice.
