The US Congress is evaluating 3 bills, one for cryptocurrencies, another for stablecoins, and the last to prevent the creation of a CBDC.

Cryptocurrencies are going through one of the most important regulatory moments in their history. After years of regulators being clearly opposed to the development of the sector in the United States, the government of Donald Trump is now trying to advance projects that could unlock a lot of value across the industry.

This week, between July 14 and 18, was named 'Crypto Week' because several projects related to the sector are being analyzed in the US Congress, potentially marking the first time a crypto regulation law is approved in the US.

In particular, three bills are the most important at this moment: the GENIUS Act, which deals with stablecoins; the Clarity Act, which seeks to create a broader regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies; and the Anti-CBDC Act, which wants to prohibit the US from creating its own digital currency.

GENIUS Act

The most advanced project is the so-called GENIUS, which stands for Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act, which aims to create a federal and state regulatory framework for the issuance and use of payment stablecoins.

The proposed text creates a specific federal regulatory regime for this type of asset, establishing minimum criteria for backing, auditing, and mandatory transparency for issuers. Additionally, only authorized companies will be able to issue stablecoins in the US.

Among the prohibitions of the project are the offering and sale of stablecoins without authorization (including by foreign companies), the issuer cannot represent or market these assets as if they were guaranteed by the US government, nor pay interest or yield on the possession of stablecoins.

The GENIUS defines that issuers must maintain highly liquid assets (such as Treasury securities with shorter maturities) to ensure total parity with fiat currency.

Companies need to be transparent, disclosing information such as redemption policies, monthly reserve composition, and monthly audits and audited annual financial statements. The regulatory body will be the Department of the Treasury, with cooperation from state regulators.

Among other requirements, there is also the obligation to follow anti-money laundering laws and customer identification and verification processes. Issuers are also limited to functions of issuing and redeeming stablecoins, maintaining related reserves, and offering custody of stablecoins and related assets.

The US has much of its law defined by each state, and in light of this, state issuers with less than $10 billion in circulation will be able to opt to submit to state regulation, as long as the structure is 'substantially similar' to the federal one. Above that amount, the company will be required to follow the federal regime, with authorized exceptions.

Regarding penalties, the bill states that the illegal issuance of stablecoins may result in a fine of up to $1 million per violation and a prison sentence of up to 5 years. Additionally, directors or executives with a history of financial crimes are prohibited from acting as managers of issuers.

Everything that GENIUS presents aims to ensure security, transparency, financial integrity, and systemic stability in the use of these stablecoins, as well as to prevent the issuance and circulation of stablecoins outside authorized channels.

Clarity Act

The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025, or simply Clarity Act, is the bill that aims to establish clear definitions for digital assets, separating those that are securities from those that are not.

Furthermore, it seeks to divide responsibilities between the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) and the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission), creating a specific regulatory regime for exchanges and brokers trading digital assets.

One of the main points of the law, which has caused confusion in the US for years, is the definition of which agency will be responsible for regulating each asset. The CFTC will have primary authority over what the text calls digital commodities, assets that are neither securities nor fiat currencies, such as Bitcoin (BTC).

The CFTC will still be able to supervise brokers, trading platforms, custodians, and related services. The SEC will remain responsible for digital assets that are securities, such as tokens sold in centralized ICOs with the expectation of profit or payment of interest.

In light of this, the Clarity Act makes it clear that digital assets that become sufficiently decentralized or functional may cease to be securities, moving out of the SEC's jurisdiction and into the CFTC's.

The project, therefore, clarifies the criteria for asset classification and establishes a process for issuers to request reclassification of their tokens after a period of growth/decentralization, potentially moving out of the SEC's jurisdiction and into the CFTC's.

Additionally, it defines obligations for platforms, such as registration, disclosure, custody practices, fraud monitoring, and asset segregation, which ensures that in case of problems with the company, it will have the funds to return to customers.

With this clarity, the government also facilitates the imposition of administrative and judicial sanctions in case of non-compliance with the rules, defining which belong to the CFTC and which remain with the SEC.

Anti-CBDC Act

Finally, the bill seeks to prohibit the creation of an official government cryptocurrency of the US, known as CBDC. The idea is to prevent the country from being able to control, track, or interfere with citizens' financial transactions.

The text explicitly prohibits the Federal Reserve (the Central Bank of the US) from creating and offering a digital currency to individuals, nor authorizing financial intermediaries (such as commercial banks) to issue or distribute CBDCs to the public. The use of a digital currency as a tool to control the money supply, interest rates, or inflation, even indirectly, is also prohibited.

Moreover, the Anti-CBDC Act also prohibits the creation of any system that allows the US government to: track transactions in real-time; block, restrict, or reverse payments from individuals; impose programmable restrictions on the use of digital money.

This project aims to address the concerns of American society, such as fears that the government will have direct access to citizens' transactions or use CBDC for economic censorship or political control, such as account blocking.

The law, therefore, guarantees that any attempt to create a CBDC in the US can only occur with the express authorization of Congress and not by autonomous decision of the Federal Reserve or the federal government.

The status of each project

The most advanced of the projects is the GENIUS Act, concerning stablecoins. Already approved in the Senate, it has faced some impasses in recent days and may be voted on this Thursday (17) in the House, and if approved, it would go directly to the sanction of President Donald Trump.

The Clarity, despite being considered the most important for being broader, if approved this week in the House, will still need to pass through the Senate, where it will undergo a whole process of debates and may even be modified. Earlier this week, Ian Katz, an analyst at Capital Alpha, stated that he believes the Senate will modify the bill and doubts that it will be completed this year.

On the other hand, the Anti-CBDC is the most 'delayed' of all. Even though it is being voted on in the House now, it needs to pass through the Senate and does not have a version presented by the senators, which should make its processing take quite a while.