Circle’s stock CRCL shot up 20% on Tuesday, smashing its earlier record and landing at $180, after the Senate passed the GENIUS Act, the first major crypto-related law to clear Congress.
The bill would let stablecoins be used by banks, fintechs, retailers, and others, pulling them into the US financial system. Circle only went public on June 5, and now it’s trading at six times its IPO price of $31.
The bill, if approved in the House, would require large stablecoin issuers to follow the same rules banks do: full compliance with anti-money laundering, sanctions, and KYC checks.
That means stablecoins, which were mostly used for crypto trading, are now being seen as tools for real payments, and investors are treating Circle like the company leading the pack.
Senators clash over risks while Circle CEO pushes utility
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the New York Democrat who co-sponsored the bill, said the GENIUS Act would “enable US businesses and consumers to take advantage of the next generation of financial innovation.”
She also claimed the bill will “protect consumers, enable responsible innovation, and safeguard the dominance of the US dollar.” The bill now heads to the House, which has its own version—the STABLE Act. That one differs in some parts, and lawmakers will have to negotiate the final draft.
Not every Democrat is on board. Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, supported the bill and told reporters, “I think crypto is here to stay and I’d rather have it be American-led.” But Senator Elizabeth Warren, another Democrat, strongly disagreed. She said the GENIUS Act “lacks the basic safeguards necessary to ensure that stablecoins don’t blow up our entire financial system.” Warren argued that even with the proposed oversight, risks remain too high to support federal approval.
Jeremy Allaire, Circle’s CEO and co-founder, reacted to the Senate news by backing the bill and defending stablecoins overall. “The reality is that stablecoins are the highest utility form of money that has ever been created,” Jeremy said in an interview with Fox Business. “They combine the trusted value of fiat currency with the extraordinary capabilities of blockchains: programmable, instantaneous, borderless.”
When asked how he felt about his stock surging, Jeremy said he has been pretty shocked over the past two weeks and that the success was “much more” than he’d ever expected, even in his “wildest” dream.
Meanwhile, the entire space around stablecoins is pulling in big players. PayPal, Deutsche Bank, and Banco Santander are already building their own systems around them. Visa and Stripe have adjusted their platforms to work with stablecoins. And President Donald Trump has jumped into the mix too—his family business, World Liberty Financial Inc., just launched its own stablecoin.
Data shows demand is real. Stablecoin transactions totaled $4 trillion in February. But only $6 billion of that came from actual payments outside the crypto market, according to data pulled by Allium Labs, Visa, Artemis, Dragonfly Capital, and Castle Island Ventures.
Still, analysts at Citigroup think the total supply of stablecoins could grow to $3.7 trillion by 2030—but only if things go right. If regulations are delayed or fraud risks pile up, the market could land closer to $500 billion, which is still double the current size of $250 billion.
