Now it will be the turn of the U.S. representatives to analyze the GENIUS Act, to vote on it in its current form or propose changes.

Wednesday (18) has seen more declines for Bitcoin, which fell 1.4% on the day to be traded at $104,611. In reais, the asset is currently quoted at R$578,006.

Despite the price correction, the crypto market has something to celebrate: the U.S. Senate approved last night (17) the GENIUS Act, a bill that regulates the stablecoin market and represents the first step towards broader regulation of cryptocurrencies in the North American country.

The bill was approved by a vote of 68 in favor and 30 against. Bipartisan support was essential for the advancement of the law, with 18 Democrats voting in favor of the bill, although Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), known for her anti-crypto stance, demanded that her party colleagues oppose the legislation.

Senator Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), the bill's author, stated on the Senate floor before the vote that the legislation will have 'far-reaching implications' for the financial system — a 'paradigm-shifting development' that will bring the sector into the 21st century.

'With this bill, the United States is one step closer to becoming a global leader in crypto,' Hagerty stated, according to Fortune.

Senator Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), a co-author of the bill, acknowledged that she was not able to include everything she would have liked in the text, but said it was 'a good bipartisan effort'.

'This is an unregulated area that will now become regulated,' he concluded.

What happens now?

Now it will be the turn of the members of the U.S. House of Representatives to analyze the text to vote on it in its current form or propose changes — which would require a new round in the Senate before the bill is sent for Donald Trump's signature.

However, this vote may not come so quickly. Although Senate Republicans are pushing for the GENIUS Act to be signed by July 4, their House colleagues have their own bill on stablecoins and may want to combine it with the broader and weakened bill on the crypto market framework, in an attempt to increase the chances of the combined legislation being approved in both houses.

Thus, in the coming weeks there may be a sort of impasse between Republican senators and House members, who have different interests regarding which projects should be approved, according to sector leaders in crypto policy who reported to Decrypt.

What does the GENIUS Act determine?

The GENIUS Act establishes guidelines for the approval and oversight of stablecoin issuers — tokens pegged to the dollar — in the United States, such as Tether, Circle, and Ripple.

Companies operating with stablecoins in the North American market will have to meet stricter requirements regarding the composition of their reserves, comply with transparency requirements, and be in accordance with anti-money laundering laws — all under the supervision of a regulatory body.

To be in compliance, Tether, which currently controls the world's largest stablecoin, USDT, stated in May that it plans to launch a new dollar-pegged stablecoin in the U.S. by the end of the year to avoid legal issues.

The GENIUS Act advanced in the Senate, without addressing a topic that concerns Democrats: the personal financial interest of the U.S. president in the cryptocurrency sector.

There is a provision in the bill that prohibits members of Congress and their families from profiting from stablecoins, but it does not extend to the president and his family.

It is worth mentioning that Trump and his family hold a significant stake in World Liberty Financial, a crypto project focused on DeFi that has its own stablecoin, USD1.

This week, Trump revealed that he made a profit of $57.3 million with World Liberty Financial — a gain that led lawmakers to classify the situation as 'open corruption'.