In a 68–30 vote, the US Senate has agreed to advance the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins, or GENIUS Act, more than a month after the legislation was first introduced.
Speaking on the Senate floor on June 11, Majority Leader John Thune urged members of Congress to support the bill, echoing many of former US President Donald Trump’s key talking points on digital assets.
As reported by Cointelegraph, Thune claimed the legislation would help position the United States as the “crypto capital of the world.”
A majority of senators, including several Democrats, voted to invoke cloture on the bill, clearing the way for further debate and a full floor vote.
If passed, the legislation will then be sent to the House of Representatives for further consideration.
“We want to bring cryptocurrency into the mainstream, and the GENIUS Act will help us do that,”
said Thune.
He added that there was “more work to be done” on digital asset regulation in Congress, referring to a separate market structure bill under review in the House.
On June 10, two House committees advanced the bill, called the CLARITY Act, bringing it closer to a full floor vote.
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren criticised the GENIUS Act in her floor speech, saying there were “core problems” with the legislation that had gone unaddressed due to the chamber’s failure to vote on key bipartisan amendments.
She also raised concerns shared by many Democrats regarding Trump’s connections to his family-backed crypto platform, World Liberty Financial, and the practice of rewarding holders of his memecoin with perks such as private dinners and access to the former president.
“Through his crypto business, Trump has created an efficient means to trade presidential favours like tariff exemptions, pardons, and government appointments for hundreds of millions, perhaps billions of dollars from foreign governments, from billionaires, and from large corporations,”
said Warren.
“By passing the GENIUS Act, the Senate is not only about to bless this corruption, but to actively facilitate its expansion.”
Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News America, based on image by DejaVu Designs via Freepik
