Washington, the capital of the United States, is witnessing a historic period for the cryptocurrency sector this week. During this period, dubbed “Crypto Week,” two important bills to be voted on in the House of Representatives could pave the way for the establishment of a long-awaited legal framework for digital assets.
GENIUS Act: Stablecoins
The GENIUS Act, a stablecoin bill that has already passed the Senate, will be voted on Thursday in the House of Representatives. If passed, it would mark the first time in US history that independent cryptocurrency regulation has been enacted.
The Trump administration supports this process. The House of Representatives, having abandoned the previous version, took up the new version after President Donald Trump called on Truth Social, “No delays, no addendums, bring it to my desk now.”
CLARITY: The Status of Cryptocurrencies
However, the industry’s biggest hope lies in the CLARITY Act, a bill that would clarify whether digital assets are securities or commodities. This bill aims to clearly divide regulatory powers between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
The bill is scheduled for a vote in the House of Representatives on Wednesday and is expected to pass after passing committees with bipartisan support. However, its progress in the Senate is less clear. Democrats are wary of the bill due to the Trump family’s crypto investments.
Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock, despite supporting the GENIUS Act, stating that “Trump’s crypto corruption is corrupting the digital asset market,” did not show the same commitment to CLARITY.
Coinbase, aiming to boost support for the CLARITY Act, distributed nearly 5,000 chocolate bars across Washington to highlight the law’s importance. The company noted on the packaging that nearly one-fifth of Americans own crypto, according to a Morning Consult poll.
Coinbase, Ripple, and other crypto companies are urging members of Congress to support them, arguing that a clearer regulatory framework would boost investor confidence. “Consumers want to know what they’re getting into when they buy and sell these assets and that they’re using a trusted intermediary,” said Kara Calvert, Coinbase’s Vice President of U.S. Public Policy.
The Senate is preparing to introduce its own market structure regulation this month, which will differ from the House version. Republican Senators Tim Scott and Cynthia Lummis are working on the legislation, while Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand plans to support it with a bipartisan approach.
“We have a lot of work to do, and we will be working in a bipartisan manner over the next month,” Gillibrand told CNBC.
Bill to Ban CBDC
Another key item for the crypto industry is a separate bill that would ban the Federal Reserve from issuing digital dollars (CBDCs).This bill is also expected to be passed by the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
Blockchain Association CEO Summer Mersinger expressed support for the bill, saying, “If this is something the private sector should be doing, the government should not be the competitor.”
*This is not investment advice.
