US Senators on Tuesday passed landmark stablecoin legislation designed to register and regulate US issuers of dollar-backed crypto assets.

The bill, dubbed the Genius Act, now heads to the House of Representatives, where lawmakers have been working on their own stablecoin bill, the Stable Act.

House lawmakers could attempt to reconcile the two bills, or fold the Genius Act into a crypto mega-bill known as the Clarity Act.

The Genius Act passed 68-30, attracting support from nearly every Senate Republican and more than a dozen Democrats.

Introduced in February, the bill floundered last month when pro-crypto Democrats threatened to walk away from negotiations over concerns it didn’t adequately protect consumers, the financial system, or national security.

“Today’s strong bipartisan passage of the GENIUS Act is proof of what can be achieved through honest negations and a willingness to work across the aisle,” Senator Reuben Gallego, a Democrat from Arizona, said in a statement after the bill’s passage.

“We are meaningfully closer to a stablecoin regulatory landscape in the U.S. that provides clear rules of the road, protects consumers, and holds bad actors accountable.”

President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans have embraced crypto and made it a legislative priority this year. The prospect of industry-friendly regulation is one of several factors fueling surging interest in stablecoins.

On Tuesday, Coinbase said JPMorgan Chase & Co would launch a stablecoin on the crypto exchange’s Base blockchain. Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported Walmart and Amazon were exploring issuing their own stablecoins. Earlier this month, Fortune reported Apple, X, AirBnb and Google were considering integrating stablecoins.

The market value of all stablecoins has grown more than 55% over the past year to $251 billion, according to DefiLlama data.

What’s in the bill?

Stablecoins are crypto assets designed to hold a fixed value over time. The vast majority are pegged to the US dollar and backed by US Treasuries.

The largest stablecoin issuers are the El Salvador-based Tether and the US-based Circle, which saw its shares soar after a blockbuster initial public offering earlier this month. The two companies account for almost 90% of the worldwide stablecoin market.

The Genius Act would allow banks and other companies to issue stablecoins, provided they meet certain requirements.

That includes backing the stablecoins with highly liquid assets such as US Treasuries, providing monthly disclosure of their reserves, and retaining the ability to freeze tokens at the request of law enforcement.

To assuage Senate Democrats, lawmakers beefed up federal protections for consumers by applying existing laws for financial products to stablecoins.

These protections will be enforced by the Federal Trade Commission, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the latter of which has been targeted for closure by the Trump administration and its Republican allies.

The Genius Act will also prohibit stablecoin issuers from claiming that their offerings are protected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, which guarantees up to $250,000 for depositors should their lenders fail.

To prevent issuers from pretending their stablecoins are endorsed by the “full faith and credit” of Washington, the legislation bars stablecoin issuers from using terms such as “United States,” “US,” or “USG” in their branding and marketing.

“This is a win for the U.S., a win for innovation, and a monumental step towards appropriate regulation for digital assets in the United States,” Amanda Tuminelli, the executive director of crypto lobbying firm DeFi Education Fund, said in a statement.

“The DEF team looks forward to working with House leaders to advance this legislation.”

As Senators debated the Genius Act in recent weeks, lawmakers in the House have taken on an even larger task: passing a so-called market structure bill that would create the US’ first regulatory regime for crypto writ large.

Last week, House lawmakers advanced the Clarity Act, which would largely hand oversight of the crypto industry to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Aleks Gilbert is DL News’ New York-based DeFi correspondent. You can reach him at [email protected].