After a rocky start to ‘Crypto Week,’ House Republicans move forward with the Genius Act.
House lawmakers passed a stablecoin bill on July 17 in a vote of 308–122, sending it to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature.
The Genius Act—Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act—aims to establish the first federal framework for stablecoin regulation. Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a nominal value, usually pegged to the dollar one-to-one.
After passing in the Senate in June with a 68–30 vote, the legislation was sent to the House.
The lower chamber rejected a key procedural vote on setting terms for the bill’s floor debate. Lawmakers voted 196–223 on July 15, with 13 Republicans siding with Democrats.
Procedural votes generally capture total majority party support.
After brief uncertainty—and the president’s intervention in the matter—the House eventually voted 217—212 on July 16 to advance the bill to a floor vote.
“President Trump promised to make America the crypto capital of the world,” Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) told reporters after the votes on a trio of crypto bills.
The House followed through on the president’s pledge by moving forward with an “America First digital assets agenda,” the House majority whip said.
The trio of crypto bills—the Genius Act, the Clarity Act, and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act—will solidify the U.S. dollar hegemony, spark innovation, and ensure “digital money reflects our American values of privacy, individual sovereignty, and free market competitors,” according to Emmer.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed to reporters at a July 17 press briefing that the president is planning a signing ceremony for the Genius Act.
By Andrew Moran and Nathan Worcester