The White House’s AI and Crypto Czar, David Sacks, has said that the Trump administration is optimistic about the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act moving through the Senate after it regained momentum and bipartisan support.
Stablecoin Regulation To Unlock Trillions Of Dollars
On Wednesday, Trump’s Crypto Czar told CNBC that they were positive about the GENIUS Act advancing, affirming that they have “every expectation now that it’s going to pass” as the stablecoin legislation passed the Monday cloture motion with “significant bipartisan support.”
The GENIUS Act faced a second cloture motion at the start of the week after an unsuccessful procedural vote two weeks ago, receiving only 49 out of the 60 votes required to advance to an open floor debate.
As reported by , the bill, sponsored by Republican Senator Bill Hagerty, failed to pass the cloture motion following Democratic concerns, which led to several lawmakers, including two Republican senators, withdrawing their support ahead of the vote.
However, the legislation regained momentum last week, with bipartisan efforts attempting to revive the bill before the Memorial Day recess. The Monday procedure saw 15 Democratic senators vote to pass the amended bill with a total of 66 favorable votes.
In the interview, Sacks affirmed that “Stablecoins offer a new, more efficient, cheaper, smoother payment system — new payment rails for the U.S. economy,” which increased the bill’s chances of passing the next legislative stages. “It also extends the dominance of the dollar online,” he added.
He noted that the sector already has over $200 billion in stablecoins despite being unregulated, which could suggest that clear regulations could significantly increase the market.
“If we provide the legal clarity and legal framework for this, I think we could create trillions of dollars of demand for our Treasuries practically overnight, very quickly,” Sacks affirmed.
GENIUS Act Prepares For Amendment Process
On Wednesday, Senators also voted on the motion to proceed to formal debate on the GENIUS Act, passing with a 69-31 vote. Now, the bill advances to the amendment process to address key concerns from both parties.
It’s worth noting that the bill underwent various amendments to tackle Democratic senators’ concerns, including stricter requirements for stablecoin issuers and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) provisions before the first cloture vote.
However, ten senators, including four Democrats who previously supported the bill, criticized the first revised version of the legislation, suggesting the draft omitted essential AML and national security safeguards and had ambiguous regulations that could expose crypto markets to exploitation.
Similarly, Senator Elizabeth Warren raised concerns about the president’s crypto ventures and urged Congress to reject the stablecoin bill, claiming it could pave the way for alleged “crypto corruption.”
Despite going through more amendments last week, Democrats released an analysis about the legislation’s new version, alleging that “many of the new changes are fig leaves for significant flaws that jeopardize consumer protection and national security” and that the “current draft paves the way for more Trump crypto corruption.”
The White House Crypto Czar didn’t answer CNBC’s questions related to the concern from Senate Democrats regarding the bill’s safeguards to prevent the presidential family from profiting from the stablecoin legislation. However, the lawmakers are expected to continue working on crypto ethics provisions and AML language changes during this process.
As CNBC noted, Republican Senator Roger Marshall filed to add a “poison pill” amendment that would set price controls on credit card interchange fees and mandate that banks support multiple network options for processing transactions.
Nonetheless, the potential amendment has faced backlash as Senator Thom Tillis has warned that he would withdraw his support for the GENIUS Act if the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) is attached to the stablecoin legislation.
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