A vote on the GENIUS stablecoin bill is reportedly set to be moved forward by lawmakers in the US Senate before the Memorial Day holiday.
US Senate Majority Leader John Thune reportedly told Republican lawmakers that the chamber would address a bill on stablecoin regulation before the May 26 Memorial Day holiday.
Politico reported on April 29 that Thune made the comments in a closed-door meeting with Republican senators, who hold a slim majority in the chamber. Senator Bill Hagerty introduced the GENIUS Act (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins) in February, and the Senate Banking Committee passed it in March.
Thune did not mention any crypto or blockchain-related bills in his public comments on US President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office. Since his Jan. 20 inauguration, Trump has signed several executive orders with the potential to affect US crypto policy, including one on stablecoins. However, many of these actions do not carry the force of law without an act of Congress.
The proposed GENIUS bill could essentially restrict the issuance of payment stablecoins in the United States to entities classified as “permitted payment stablecoin issuers.”The House of Representatives, also controlled by Republicans, proposed a companion bill to the legislation: the Stablecoin Transparency and Accountability for a Better Ledger Economy, or STABLE Act.
Trump Faces Conflict of Interest Allegations Tied to Stablecoins and Crypto Projects
An executive order signed by the president on Jan. 23 led to the establishment of a working group tasked with studying the potential creation and maintenance of a national crypto stockpile, along with a regulatory framework for stablecoins.Republican lawmakers introduced the STABLE and GENIUS acts following this.
Trump introduced the order just before World Liberty Financial, a crypto firm backed by his family, launched its US-dollar pegged USD1 stablecoin. Many Democratic lawmakers argued that Trump’s ties to the firm, along with his political influence and position, could present an “extraordinary conflict of interest that could create unprecedented risks to our financial system” as Congress considers the two stablecoin bills.
