President Trump signed the first major cryptocurrency bill into law Friday, marking a key milestone for an industry that has found a crucial ally in the president.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He touted the GENIUS Act, which establishes a regulatory framework for dollar-backed digital tokens called stablecoins, as \u201ca giant step to cement the American dominance of global finance and crypto technology.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThis could be perhaps the greatest revolution in financial technology since the birth of the internet itself,\u201d he said at the signing ceremony, flanked by congressional and industry leaders.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The stablecoin bill faced a lengthy and sometimes halting path to the White House. <\/p>\n
After sailing through the Senate Banking Committee earlier this year, the GENIUS Act \u2014 Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins ACT \u2014 hit its first snag in the upper chamber in May, when a group of crypto-friendly Democrats pulled their support from the legislation and blocked a procedural vote on the floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Several weeks of negotiations produced an updated version of the bill that won back support from most of the crypto-friendly contingent on the left. <\/p>\n
After initially promising an open amendment process, GOP leadership scrapped plans to move the bill via so-called regular order when several controversial amendments threatened to derail progress. The GENIUS Act ultimately passed the Senate<\/a> by a 68-30 vote in late June.\u00a0<\/p>\n Trump, who has become a key ally to the crypto industry in his second term, urged the House to quickly pass a \u201cclean\u201d stablecoin bill and send it to his desk. <\/p>\n The president\u2019s request frustrated efforts by some in the House who had hoped to tie the GENIUS Act to a broader crypto framework, allowing the lower chamber to put its stamp on legislation and preventing additional crypto legislation from losing momentum. <\/p>\n House leadership ultimately opted to move the GENUIS Act to the floor alongside two other crypto bills without formally tying them together in what it labeled \u201ccrypto week.\u201d <\/p>\n However, crypto week proved much more tumultuous than expected. A group of hard-line Republicans blocked a procedural vote Tuesday, bringing the House floor to a standstill and leaving the trio of crypto bills in limbo.\u00a0<\/p>\n The key frustration for the GOP holdouts was the lack of a clear pathway into law for a measure blocking the creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). <\/p>\n One of the three bills up for consideration in the House was the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, which would bar the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency. However, the bill seems unlikely to garner enough support to clear the Senate.\u00a0<\/p>\n