Senate’s Big Push for Stablecoin Rules: The GENIUS Act Takes a Step!

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Senate’s Big Push for Stablecoin Rules: The GENIUS Act Takes a Step!

Well now, folks, it seems the folks in Washington just can’t resist poking around in the world of shiny digital coins—like a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Last Monday, the U.S. Senate, in all their infinite wisdom, gave the nod to a bill they fancifully call the GENIUS Act. Yes sir, the bill that’s supposed to tame the wild west of stablecoins, that strange breed of money that’s supposed to stay as steady as a preacher’s sermon.

According to the esteemed Senate’s own reports—probably scribbled on the back of a napkin—the measure passed with a 66-32 vote. That’s a whole lot of folks saying, “Go ahead, mess with our latest shiny penny.” This sets the stage for further debates, amendments, and grand speeches about how to keep Uncle Sam’s dollar as stable as a barnspring horse.

Introduced by Senator Bill Hagerty—an honest-to-goodness Tennessean—the bill insists that those issuing stablecoins must keep enough cash or liquid assets to back up their promises. They’ll be subject to regular inspections, like a barber checking scissors, and big players—more than fifty billion dollars’ worth—must follow even stricter rules. And lest we forget, the foreign coin shiners aren’t off the hook either, all in the name of avoiding financial chaos and mischief.

Now, just a couple of weeks earlier—on May 8—things looked grimmer than a rainy Sunday. The Senate nearly voted down similar measures, with a 48-49 nail-biter. Critics, that is, folks who like to keep things the way they’ve always been, fussed about not enough protections for the little guy, shady dealings by big corporations, and—wouldn’t you know it—excluding the one and only Donald Trump from what they call “ethics rules.” Apparently, Trump’s involvement with a dollar-pegged coin isn’t quite kosher with some senators.

But, as is often the case in Washington, behind-closed-doors negotiations turned the tide. Rumor has it some Democrats got what they wanted—protections for consumers, ethics for big tech, and even rules that apply to everyone from government folks to Elon Musk—presumably the guy who spun a Tesla into a space rocket. The bill still keeps Trump out of the ethics club, much to the dismay of certain critics like Senator Elizabeth Warren, who claimed the bill’s “worse than no bill at all.”

In the end, a handful of Democrats who initially threw up their hands and opposed the measure, including Senators Gallego, Warner, Rochester, Alsobrooks, and Gillibrand, saw the light and voted “yes.” That’s politics for you—like a feather on the wind, changing directions quicker than a squirrel after a nut.

Having already cleared the senate banking committee back in March with bipartisan applause, this latest version—without some of the previous Democratic sponsors—continues to gather steam. If the stars align and the votes favor, this law could be the clearest set of rules yet for stablecoins in Uncle Sam’s domain. A final tally could happen any day now, and who knows—maybe one day we’ll all be staring at digital coins as calmly as we do at a sunrise, or as nervously as a cat near a rocking chair.

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2025-05-20 07:32