#GENIUSAct GENIUS Act Returns to Senate Floor
Sponsored by Senators Bill Hagerty, Tim Scott, Kirsten Gillibrand and Cynthia Lummis, the GENIUS Act aims to create a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins in the U.S.
Key provisions of the bill include reserve and audit requirements, oversight rules for issuers, consumer protections and anti-money laundering measures.
When the Senate voted on a motion to advance the bill on May 8, the GENIUS Act received only 49 votes, short of the sixty required to proceed.
Despite initially garnering bipartisan support from the Banking Committee, most Democrats in the Senate ultimately opposed the GENIUS Act.
Republican Senators Rand Paul and Josh Hawley also voted against the bill, which they argued had been rushed through without proper debate.
However, as the bill’s supporters work to resolve their colleagues’ objections, Senators Gillibrand and Lummis recently expressed their hope that the Genius Act would pass the Senate by Memorial Day, May 26.
Bipartisan Consensus Remains Elusive
The GENIUS Act isn’t the first piece of legislation aimed at regulating stablecoins in the U.S.
The Stablecoin Classification and Regulation Act (2020), the Stablecoin Transparency Act (2022) and the Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act (2023) all attempted something similar.
Several bills aimed at general-purpose crypto regulation, such as the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act and the Responsible Financial Innovation Act, have also sought to include stablecoins within their scope.
Yet each of these bills failed to attain the necessary support in Congress.
Among Democrats, crypto hawks favor an assertive role for federal regulators and strong consumer protections that extend to how stablecoins are marketed, traded and monitored.
Meanwhile, libertarian-leaning Republicans prefer a more hands-off approach that leaves licensing and oversight to individual states.
After years of impasse, the GENIUS Act may finally reach a compromise both sides can live with.