Amid eager anticipation from all sectors, the US cryptocurrency legislation has finally seen substantial progress. On July 17, Eastern Time, the House of Representatives passed three significant bills in one go, among which the stablecoin regulation bill (GENIUS Act) will be submitted to President Trump for signing into law; while the more broadly scoped cryptocurrency market regulation bill (CLARITY Act) will be sent to the Senate for a new round of negotiations.
The House of Representatives' vote this time focuses on three key bills: (Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, CLARITY Act), (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins, GENIUS Act), and (Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act).
(CLARITY Act) will be submitted to the Senate for review, aiming to complete legislation by the end of September.
Among them, the (CLARITY Act) led by the House passed on Thursday with '294 votes to 134 votes', aiming to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for the US cryptocurrency industry, clearly delineating the regulatory responsibilities of the SEC and CFTC over cryptocurrencies, and requiring platform operators to disclose consumer financial information, while implementing a strict separation of funds mechanism to prohibit operators from mixing user funds with company funds.
(CLARITY Act) will be sent to the Senate for review next, but it is unlikely to be 'accepted as is'.
According to sources familiar with Congressional operations, the Senate version is expected to reference a previous bill jointly promoted by Senators Cynthia Lummis (Republican, Wyoming) and Kirsten Gillibrand (Democrat, New York), and will select certain provisions from the House version for consolidation.
The Republican-led Senate Banking Committee has set a deadline of 'completing legislation by September 30', and it is anticipated that the coming months will be the most intense period of negotiations over the bill.
(GENIUS Act) is expected to be sent to Trump for signing this week.
On the other hand, the highly anticipated stablecoin regulation bill (GENIUS Act) passed overwhelmingly on Thursday with '308 votes to 122 votes'. This bill was previously approved by the Senate and is expected to be submitted to President Donald Trump for formal signing into law within this week.
(GENIUS Act) requires that all stablecoin issuances must be fully backed by US dollars or equivalent high liquid assets, and mandates that issuers of stablecoins with a market cap exceeding $50 billion must undergo financial audits annually, while also establishing clear regulations for foreign issuers.
The CBDC ban bill is incorporated into the (National Defense Authorization Act).
As for the (Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act), it passed narrowly with '219 votes to 210 votes'. The core of the bill is to prohibit the Federal Reserve (Fed) from directly issuing central bank digital currency (CBDC) to the public, in order to protect personal financial privacy and prevent the government from tracking individual funds through CBDC.
Some Republican members of the House of Representatives (including Marjorie Taylor Greene, Chip Roy, Michael Cloud, Anna Paulina Luna, etc.) previously expressed their opposition during the procedural vote, citing concerns that the (GENIUS Act) might secretly pave the way for a 'digital dollar'.
However, the legislators promoting this bill clarified that the (GENIUS Act) does not authorize the Fed to issue CBDC, and ultimately decided to incorporate the CBDC ban into the (National Defense Authorization Act, NDAA) for advancement.