In fact, it is worth clarifying that the GENIUS Act received preliminary approval (procedural motion vote) in the U.S. Senate on the night of July 15, 2025, by a wide margin, signaling that the text could enter formal debate. However, this vote does not equate to the final approval of the bill.
What happens now?
1. Debate and amendments in the Senate
After winning the procedural motion, the text goes to the Senate floor, where it will be debated in detail and may receive amendments.
Only after being approved in its definitive form will the GENIUS Act be submitted to a final approval vote by the senators.
2. Submission to the House of Representatives
If the Senate approves the final text, the bill goes to the House, where it goes through the same process: committees, floor debate, and voting.
3. Presidential Sanction
After being approved by both Houses (Senate and House), the GENIUS Act goes to the President to sign, becoming federal law.
4. If it had been rejected
If the procedural motion had not passed, the bill would simply remain stalled — without advancing to debate or final vote — at risk of dying in that legislative cycle.
It could then be reintroduced in another session or 'fitted' into a larger package of laws, but with no guarantee of immediate resumption.
Practical consequences
While the GENIUS Act is not definitively approved and sanctioned, stablecoins in the U.S. continue to be regulated only by state regulations and specific guidance from agencies like the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve, without a unified federal framework. Only with the sanction — and compliance with the reserve, transparency, and licensing requirements set forth in GENIUS — will we see:
A clear federal standard for stablecoin issuers (banks and non-banks).
Consolidated oversight from the Treasury and federal regulators.
Potential acceleration of the supply of digital dollars by major exchanges and banks.
In summary, the preliminary 'non-approval' did not halt the text — it continues to progress in the Senate. But until there is a final vote in the chamber, followed by approval in the House and presidential sanction, none of the new rules revised in the GENIUS Act will come into effect.