Written by: Glendon, Techub News
As Bitcoin surges past the $123,000 mark, repeatedly hitting historical highs, the highly anticipated 'Crypto Week' is about to commence.
The U.S. House of Representatives will begin the 'Crypto Week' agenda at 4:00 PM local time on July 14 (4:00 AM Hong Kong time on July 15), focusing on three key bills that could rewrite cryptocurrency history, including the (Guidance and Establishment of the U.S. Stablecoin National Innovation Act) (Stablecoin (GENIUS Act), also known as the 'Genius Act'), (Digital Asset Market Clarity Act) ((CLARITY Act)), and (Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act) (HR 1919).
For the cryptocurrency industry, this meeting led by House Republicans is of profound significance, as it concerns whether the industry can obtain a 'passport' into the mainstream financial world under clear regulatory rules in the U.S. Next, this article will explore the core contents of these three bills, the positive impacts they may generate if passed, and discuss their likelihood of passage.
Detailed explanation of the core contents of the three bills
(GENIUS Act): Establishing a stablecoin regulatory framework
On February 4, 2025, Republican Senator Bill Hagerty from Tennessee first proposed the (GENIUS Act), aimed at constructing a regulatory framework for stablecoins. On May 15, the bill was amended in response to concerns from Democratic legislators about potential conflicts of interest involving Trump’s family, aiming to garner broader support. After the amendments, the bill added asset reserve requirements for stablecoin issuing institutions, mandating a 100% dollar-equivalent asset reserve, while explicitly prohibiting Congressional members and their families from profiting from stablecoins.
However, it is worth noting that the bill does not restrict the president and his family from profiting from stablecoin issuance, which has intensified Democrats' criticism of Trump and his family's 'cryptocurrency corruption.'
On June 17, the U.S. Senate held a final vote on the (GENIUS Act), officially passing it with 68 votes in favor and 30 against, establishing the first federal regulatory framework for cryptocurrency stablecoins pegged to the dollar, marking the first time the crypto asset industry is included under U.S. federal legal regulation, while the (GENIUS Act) also officially entered the House process.
Unlike the fragmented regulatory approach of the U.S. government over the years, the (GENIUS Act) establishes clear and explicit standards in the digital asset field:
Strictly defining payment stablecoin attributes: Clearly states that payment stablecoins are digital assets used for payments or settlements, must be exchanged at a 1:1 ratio with fiat currency (such as the U.S. dollar), and do not fall under the categories of securities or commodities. At the same time, issuers are prohibited from providing interest yields to users through stablecoins to prevent them from evolving into speculative financial products.
Clearly defining issuer access restrictions: Only three types of entities can legally issue payment stablecoins, including subsidiaries of insured banks (such as JPMorgan Chase institutions), federally non-bank issuers approved by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and state-level qualified issuers meeting federal standards, with graded management implemented. Issuers with a scale exceeding $10 billion are subject to direct federal supervision (such as the Federal Reserve, OCC, etc.), while smaller issuers are governed by state regulatory agencies to reduce compliance costs. Existing non-compliant issuers (such as Tether) must complete rectification within 3 years or exit the market.
Covering asset reserve and transparency requirements, consumer protection, and anti-money laundering mechanisms: Reserve asset types are limited to U.S. dollar cash, short-term U.S. Treasury bills maturing within 93 days, and other highly liquid assets; issuers must publicly disclose reserve composition reports monthly, audited by a third-party accounting firm; issuers exceeding $50 billion must submit annual audited financial statements, etc.
(CLARITY Act): Clarifying the boundaries for the digital asset market structure
(Digital Asset Market Clarity Act) (CLARITY Act) is formally titled 'Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025', led by French Hill, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, with support from five Republicans and three Democrats, ultimately forming a bipartisan proposal.
The bill aims to establish a clear and unified regulatory framework for the U.S. digital asset market, clarifying the regulatory approaches of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), creating a clear regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, and requiring digital asset companies to disclose customer information and isolate customer funds. While protecting investors and combating fraud, the bill also leaves space for innovation (DeFi, stablecoins, NFTs, etc.) through exemptions and research.
On June 11, the U.S. House Agriculture Committee and Financial Services Committee voted to pass the (CLARITY Act) with 47 votes in favor and 6 against, and 32 votes in favor and 19 against, respectively. The bill was subsequently submitted to the House for a vote by the full assembly. Interestingly, according to Bitcoin Laws, the amendment in the bill that 'prohibits President Trump and his family from profiting from trading or promoting crypto assets' was also rejected.
The framework proposed by the bill mainly includes four core contents:
Clarifying the classification of digital assets and the division of regulatory responsibilities: Security tokens (such as fundraising tokens) are regulated by the SEC and must comply with securities law registration and disclosure requirements; digital commodities are under the jurisdiction of the CFTC, such as mainstream cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Establishing a blockchain 'maturity' certification mechanism: Value primarily derived from actual blockchain use, requiring no single entity control (for example, the maximum percentage of holdings by the largest holder cannot exceed 20%), and must undergo a 4-year observation period (starting from the passage of the bill or the first token sale).
Including DeFi and infrastructure exemption clauses: Clearly defines six types of non-custodial services that are not subjected to the (Securities Exchange Act), including node operation and maintenance, oracle services; front-end interface development; liquidity pool provision; non-custodial wallet services; DeFi protocol development and maintenance; transaction validation and forwarding services.
Defining the scope of regulation: The SEC is responsible for the registration of security tokens and anti-fraud enforcement, while the CFTC is responsible for exercising jurisdiction over the spot and derivatives markets for digital commodities and requiring exchanges, brokers, and other intermediaries to register and isolate customer funds.
During this period, the (Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act) (BRCA) was also incorporated into the newly revised (CLARITY Act), aimed at protecting developers of non-custodial, peer-to-peer technologies while strictly regulating custodial financial institutions.
(Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act)
(Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act) was first proposed by House Majority Whip and Republican Tom Emmer in September 2023, aiming to curb the development of a digital dollar and prohibit the Federal Reserve from directly offering products and services to individuals, based on the consideration that supporters of the bill believe the digital dollar is likely to become a financial surveillance tool that undermines traditional American ways of life.
On May 26, the U.S. House of Representatives voted on a revised version of the bill (HR 1919), which successfully passed with a final count of 216 votes in favor and 192 against.
The core contents of the bill cover multiple key aspects: prohibiting the issuance of retail CBDCs, meaning the Federal Reserve cannot issue central bank digital currency to individuals without Congressional authorization, preventing excessive government interference in payment systems and personal financial freedoms; prohibiting the government from collecting citizen transaction data through CBDCs, fundamentally limiting data collection to protect individual privacy; ensuring a clear boundary between CBDCs and private stablecoins (such as USDC) to prevent excessive central bank intervention in the payment sector.
After gaining a deep understanding of the goals and core contents of these bills, a key question arises: If these bills eventually pass, what impact will they have on the entire cryptocurrency industry?
Impact of the bill and likelihood of passage
(GENIUS Act) marks a significant shift in U.S. cryptocurrency regulation, with bipartisan support in the Senate, expected to lay the groundwork for a more mature, transparent, and innovation-friendly digital asset market in the U.S. Once passed, the bill is projected to greatly enhance market trust and stability within the cryptocurrency industry, with clearly defined regulatory rules (such as a 100% reserve requirement) reducing fraud, such as decoupling incidents caused by opaque reserves, and attracting institutional investors, thus driving the growth of compliant stablecoins like USDC.
However, this bill will also increase regulatory pressure on some stablecoin issuers. For instance, stablecoin giant Tether currently does not meet the reserve composition required by the bill. JPMorgan analysts have noted that Tether may need to sell non-compliant assets to comply with the proposed U.S. stablecoin regulations, including Bitcoin, precious metals, corporate notes, and secured loans. However, Tether's CEO Paolo Ardoino has expressed a willingness to launch products compliant with the (GENIUS Act).
On the other hand, the bill will promote innovation and compliant development, providing a 'safe harbor' for DeFi and payment stablecoins, reducing legal uncertainties, thus encouraging companies to develop new products (such as cross-border payment solutions) under a transparent framework.
For the U.S., the (GENIUS Act) can enhance financial security and consumer protection, enforce disclosure of reserve information and redemption policies, and prevent systemic risks similar to Terra-Luna. Moreover, by ensuring the compliance of dollar-pegged stablecoins, it can increase the use of the dollar in international payments, thus maintaining and consolidating the dollar's global dominance. Additionally, this bill is highly likely to become a global standard, providing a regulatory template to encourage other countries or regions to establish similar frameworks, reducing regulatory arbitrage and market fragmentation.
(CLARITY Act) also possesses some similar impacts, but compared to the digital asset market foundation established by the (GENIUS Act), this act tends to provide a clear regulatory framework, ending the ambiguity of current U.S. government regulation, clarifying the jurisdictional boundaries of the SEC and CFTC, thereby providing predictable compliance pathways for exchanges and issuers, reducing legal risks. Based on this, this act may encourage some projects and investments to flow back to the U.S., as Coinbase has clearly stated its support for this act.
Secondly, the bill can also unleash the innovative potential of DeFi, with exemption clauses for non-custodial protocols (such as liquidity pools and oracles), allowing developers to build decentralized applications without worrying about accountability under securities law, thus promoting the iteration of Web3 technology.
However, negative impacts also need to be noted. The most significant impact of the two bills is undoubtedly the increase in compliance costs and the rise in market entry barriers. Small and medium-sized exchanges will need to simultaneously meet SEC disclosure requirements and CFTC trading monitoring rules. Due to operational cost constraints, small and medium-sized stablecoin issuers may also be limited by the 100% reserve and strict audit requirements. The end result may lead to the exit of small and medium-sized platforms from the market, thereby exacerbating industry monopolization, with large institutions completely dominating the market.
(Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act) is like a double-edged sword for the U.S., bringing some benefits while also concealing numerous challenges.
From the perspective of benefiting the cryptocurrency industry, once this bill takes effect, it will cut off the Federal Reserve's ability to provide digital dollars to individuals. Thus, private dollar stablecoins (such as USDT, USDC) will become the only vehicle for the digitization of the dollar, which will undoubtedly further expand the market share of stablecoins.
However, for the U.S. government, the bill's prohibition on using CBDCs for economic control may significantly limit the government's financial monitoring capabilities. The government requires effective tools and means for economic regulation and financial oversight, and CBDCs can provide such support to some extent. Moreover, most Democratic representatives believe that the bill will harm U.S. interests, arguing that CBDCs can enhance payment efficiency and reduce settlement costs, and the ban will delay the upgrade of the U.S. financial system. Maxine Waters, a member of the House Financial Services Committee and a Democrat from California, has openly criticized this prohibition on CBDCs as 'anti-innovation.'
Because of this, based on the above analysis of pros and cons, the bill faces significant difficulties in achieving greater progress, and the likelihood of passage is not very high. This can also be observed from the voting situation in the U.S. House of Representatives; during the voting process, as many as 192 Democratic representatives cast votes against it, with only 3 Democratic representatives expressing support. Moreover, the bill still needs to pass through the Senate review, where Democratic representatives hold a majority, indicating that the bill will inevitably encounter greater resistance.
In contrast, the likelihood of the (GENIUS Act) and (CLARITY Act) passing through the House is much greater, as Republicans hold a majority of 220:212 in the House, and the bills are led by Republicans, with the House intending to advance both bills concurrently in hopes of completing these two legislations before the August deadline set by Trump.
In this regard, Trump has also urged on Truth Social that the Senate's passage of the (GENIUS Act) will drive large-scale investment and innovation in the digital asset field in the U.S., calling on the House to swiftly pass the bill and submit it to the president for signing without delays or additional conditions. Even U.S. Senator Hagerty stated in an interview that Trump is ready to sign the (GENIUS Act), and the bill may soon be delivered to his desk.
Despite ongoing opposition regarding Trump's 'cryptocurrency corruption' convenience. However, according to (Finance) reports, several legal professionals in the U.S. indicated that, generally speaking, the legislative process in the U.S. Senate is more challenging than in the House. Compared to the Senate, there are more legislators supporting Trump in the House, so the (GENIUS Act) pushed by Trump is likely to gain majority support in the House and ultimately pass.
On the other hand, market enthusiasm has been ignited, with analysis suggesting that investor optimism regarding policy expectations has driven the market up, as evidenced by the recent surge in stock prices of stablecoin giant Circle and Bitcoin continuously hitting historical highs, indicating growing market optimism towards clearer regulatory policies.
As for whether the final bill can successfully pass, 'Cryptocurrency Week' is approaching, so let's wait and see!
