Originally stuck in a stalemate, the 'Crypto Week' has finally cleared up after nearly 10 hours of back-and-forth in the House. With the procedural vote narrowly passing, the highly anticipated stablecoin regulation bill (GENIUS Act) and the digital asset market clarity bill (CLARITY Act) are now back on track, moving on to the next voting stage.
10-Hour Marathon Vote Concludes
The U.S. House of Representatives earlier passed a vote to reopen the debate process by a narrow margin, allowing previously obstructed bills that were unable to enter the debate and final voting stages due to a surprise opposition from the House Freedom Caucus to get back on track.
Although this vote was only procedural, the House can only debate and hold a final vote on substantive bills if a majority of members agree.
The procedural motion passed this time will officially move the highly watched GENIUS Act and CLARITY Act into the final voting stage.
The first round of voting narrowly passed with a vote of 217 to 215, giving the market a momentary sigh of relief; however, the subsequent second round of voting fell into a long stalemate, lasting from 1:19 PM to 11:04 PM Eastern Time, ultimately passing with a vote of 217 to 212, marking a dramatic twist in the entire legislative battle.
According to sources quoted by CoinDesk, the reason why the conservative Republican members of the 'Freedom Caucus' are strongly obstructing is to pressure the inclusion of the central bank digital currency (CBDC) ban bill into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) by using their votes.
Due to the National Defense Authorization Act being a significant bill that the U.S. Congress must reach a bipartisan consensus on and pass each year, it is often seen as a 'legislative springboard' for promoting other issues.
The GENIUS Act is expected to have its final vote as early as Thursday.
According to the current agenda, the GENIUS Act is expected to have its final vote as early as Thursday, and if passed, will be sent to President Trump for signing; as for the CLARITY Act, it is expected to complete voting in the House next week before being sent to the Senate for consideration.
The general consensus is that, despite the procedural setbacks, these two bills still have a good chance of succeeding, as they had already obtained bipartisan consensus before being stalled on Wednesday, so unexpected variables are not anticipated.
"House passes procedural vote! GENIUS Act moves to final vote" was first published on BlockBeats.