After weeks of delay, Senate Republicans joined a group of Democrats on Tuesday (June 18) to pass a landmark cryptocurrency bill that would create the first regulatory framework for stablecoin issuers.
As reported by NBC News, the vote on the GENIUS Act was 68 to 30, with 18 Democrats aligning with most Republicans to support the measure.
Only two Republicans, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Josh Hawley of Missouri, opposed it.
It marks the first time the Senate has approved major legislation aimed at regulating digital assets.
“With this bill, the United States is one step closer to becoming the global leader in crypto,”
said Senator Bill Hagerty, a Republican from Tennessee and author of the GENIUS Act.
“This bill will cement US dollar dominance, it will protect customers, it will drive demand for US treasuries.”
“Today will be remembered as an inflection point for innovation in the United States of America,”
he added in his floor speech.
The legislation now moves to the House of Representatives, which is controlled by Republicans and has been working on its own bipartisan proposal to regulate digital assets.
Regulators and lawmakers in Washington continue to grapple with how best to oversee the rapidly expanding cryptocurrency sector.
Within the Democratic Party, opinions remain divided, with some pushing for tighter regulation of what they view as an industry mired in conflicts of interest involving former President Donald Trump and his family.
An earlier version of the GENIUS Act was approved by the Senate Banking Committee in April with the support of five Democrats.
However, Senate Democrats, led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, along with two Republicans, blocked the bill from advancing in May, citing the need for stronger national security and anti money laundering measures.
A group of bipartisan senators, including Hagerty and Senators Cynthia Lummis (Republican of Wyoming), Mark Warner (Democrat of Virginia), Kirsten Gillibrand (Democrat of New York), Angela Alsobrooks (Democrat of Maryland), and Ruben Gallego (Democrat of Arizona), later reached a compromise on revisions to the bill.
These changes introduced consumer protection measures, restrictions on technology companies issuing stablecoins, and extended ethics rules to certain government employees.
These revisions secured broader Democratic support, allowing the bill to move forward after it met the required 60 vote threshold.
“I think because we worked so hard and so long with them that it got a few more of them to ‘yes’. And so I think this is a real legislative victory,”
Lummis told NBC News prior to the vote.
“They did get more of what they wanted. They should be voting yes, because they were extremely influential in shaping the legislation.”
However, some Democrats expressed frustration that the amended bill did not contain provisions to prevent Trump and his family from continuing to profit from their cryptocurrency ventures.
Recent financial disclosure filings show Trump earned US$57.3 million last year from World Liberty Financial, a crypto firm tied to his family.
The legislation includes language barring members of Congress and senior executive branch officials from issuing payment stablecoin products while serving in public office.
