- Stablecoin bill will proceed to a floor debate, amendments, and final Senate vote.
- The U.S. House of Representatives must also pass the bill before presidential action.
On the 19th of May, the stablecoin bill, the GENIUS Act, cleared a key Senate vote and set the stage for the much-awaited crypto market structure framework.
The bill attracted bipartisan support with 66 ‘YES’ votes, surpassing the 60 threshold. Only 32 voted ‘NO.’
In the first attempt to advance it on the 8th of May, the bill fell short of the vote requirement following strong reservations from Democrats led by Ruben Gallego and Elizabeth Warren.
Mixed views as stablecoin bill advances
Senator Ruben Gallego and eight other Democrats strongly opposed the previous vote. However, they supported yesterday’s vote, apart from New Jersey’s Andy Kim. About 16 Democrats voted ‘YES’.
According to reports, crypto super PAC Fairshake and Stand With Crypto (SWC) may have influenced the outcome. In a statement, SWC said,
“The Senate heard our voices. SWC advocates contacted their senators tens of thousands of times and over 120K watched our livestream of the GENIUS Act vote tonight.”
Notably, some of the Senators who supported the bill, like Gallego, Bernie Moreno, and Adam Schiff, were heavily supported by Fairshake in the last elections.
In a statement, a spokesperson for CEDAR Innovation Foundation, an affiliate of Fairshake, stated,
“We congratulate the Senate on today’s vote. This action, and eventually passage of a stablecoin bill, clears the path for Congress to act on the mandate of voters to pass market structure legislation which creates clear rules of the road for digital assets.”
For Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, the bill’s passage was a ‘big victory’ for the sector.
Senator Bill Hagerty echoed a similar sentiment, stating that the GENIUS Act would herald American payment systems.
“Customers will be protected, the demand for U.S. treasuries will balloon to the tune of more than $1 trillion, and innovation in the digital asset space will thrive in the United States going forward.”
However, some Democrats, led by Elizabeth Warren, opposed the bill, claiming it would entrench corruption amongst big tech firms and President Donald Trump’s crypto interests.
“The bill will turbocharge this kind of corruption by expanding the reach of President Trump’s USD1 stablecoin and giving him the authority to regulate his own financial product.”
That said, yesterday’s vote was the key hurdle. The next step will be a floor debate and amendments for the bill.
After that, a final Senate vote will be held with a simple majority threshold: 51 votes out of 100 total Senators or fewer, depending on those present. Some believe this may happen after Memorial Day on the 26th of May.
The U.S. House of Representatives must also pass the bill before it is submitted for presidential action and enacted into law.