US lawmakers push GENIUS bill for final floor vote

The US Senate took a major step in advancing the Guidance and Establishing Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) bill on Wednesday, following a 68-30 vote that will set the bill up for potential final passage next week.

US Senate inch closer to passing stablecoin legislation

In a vote that ended 68 to 30, US Senators have pushed stablecoin legislation further up the approval ladder, bringing it closer to the President's desk.

The Senate took procedural action on Wednesday, voting to invoke cloture on the GENIUS bill. This allows the legislation to proceed to a final floor vote, which is expected to take place as early as Monday. 

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott urged Senators ahead of the vote to support the bill's approval and get it to the President's desk.

"Let's finish the job and get this bill to President Trump's desk for his signature," Scott stated.

The GENIUS Act bill is a bipartisan stablecoin bill introduced by Senator Bill Hagerty and others, including Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Senator Cynthia Lummis. The bill requires issuers to back tokens 1:1 fully with the US Dollar or short-term Treasuries. It also focuses on establishing proper anti-money laundering (AML) and customer protection frameworks for stablecoin payments. 

If it passes the final floor vote, the bill will still need to be signed into law by President Donald Trump. Trump previously urged lawmakers to have the bill on his desk by August. If signed into law, it will become the first-ever crypto regulation to be approved in the US. 

The GENIUS bill has faced several hurdles from Democrat lawmakers along the way, which previously delayed its progress. Some Democrats, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, refused to support its progress, citing concerns over its anti-money laundering (AML) approaches and customer protection standards. 

"We don't have to speculate on what could go wrong if this bill advances without changes. We have already seen it […] the next time Trump is cut into a corrupt deal by a foreign government using his stablecoin […] it is likely that the resulting harm will be traced back to the inadequacies of the GENIUS Act," Senator Warren said in a speech ahead of the vote.

She further addressed concerns about President Donald Trump's involvement with cryptocurrency, particularly with the launch of Trump family-affiliated World Liberty Financial’s USD 1 stablecoin. 

"That stablecoin is already the 5th largest stablecoin in the world, and foreign investors have begun to exploit this avenue for corruption," she added.

Warren stated that there is nothing in the GENIUS bill that will stop corruption from the president. 

On the floor, lawmakers will deliberate reconciling the GENIUS bill with the crypto market structure bill, the CLARITY Act, which has already passed out of the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025, or CLARITY Act, is a regulatory bill that aims to establish a clear regulatory framework for digital assets. The bill looks to distinguish the roles of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in regulating crypto asset markets. This involves putting centralized cryptocurrencies under the oversight of the SEC and decentralized "digital commodities" under the CFTC.

The GENIUS bill and CLARITY Act propose different approaches to regulating stablecoins, which would need to be resolved before a full vote can be taken on the former.

Meanwhile, the stablecoin market has continued its upward surge, rising to $250.52 billion after adding $1.42 billion to their total capitalization over the past week, per DefiLlama data. A growth in the stablecoin market has often translated to increased prices for crypto assets as it signifies the availability of fresh liquidity to spur demand.

The increased attention around stablecoins follows the successful debut of stablecoin issuer Circle (CRCL) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), where its stock price has risen by over 270% since its public offering last Wednesday.

Several top financial and technology institutions including Apple, Amazon, Bank of America, Stripe, Visa and MasterCard, have shown strong interest in leveraging stablecoins for their operations.