BREAKING: U.S. Senate Approves GENIUS Act in Landmark 68–30 Vote – What It Means for Tech & Finance

The U.S. Senate just fired a shot across the bow of legacy systems—passing the GENIUS Act with a decisive 68–30 vote. This isn’t just another bill; it’s a potential game-changer for tech innovation and, let’s be honest, another playground for Wall Street to exploit.

Why It Matters: The GENIUS Act could unlock billions in funding for next-gen tech—think AI, quantum computing, and yes, even blockchain. But don’t pop the champagne yet. Regulatory hurdles and partisan bickering could still slow things down.

The Finance Angle: Banks and hedge funds are already salivating over the arbitrage opportunities. Because nothing says ''progress'' like turning legislation into a derivatives market.

What’s Next: The House battle looms—and you can bet lobbyists are already swarming Capitol Hill like crypto traders chasing a meme coin pump.

Big Tech faces restrictions under the GENIUS Act

Large, publicly traded firms such as Meta and Amazon would be barred from issuing stablecoins unless they meet specific criteria for financial safety and consumer data protection.

The act also includes a bankruptcy provision that gives stablecoin holders “super-priority status in bankruptcy proceedings, giving them the legal right to recover their money first in the unlikely event of an insolvency and protects existing bank depositors from reserve claims from an issuer,” according to a Senate fact sheet.

Early in the process, lobbyists for traditional banks, including Bank of America, urged lawmakers to bar nonbank firms from creating stablecoins.

Many Democrats raised questions over how the bill treats foreign issuers and whether it sets strong enough anti–anti-money-laundering checks. They also worried about large corporations using stablecoins to expand their reach.

Debate grew sharper after World Liberty Financial, a firm tied to President Trump, announced plans for its own stablecoin, drawing criticism over possible conflicts of interest.

GENIUS Act heads to House for final decision

The Genius crypto bill now moves to the House. In April, the House Financial Services Committee approved its own stablecoin measure, the Stablecoin Transparency and Accountability for a Better Ledger Economy Act, but it has not yet reached the full chamber for a vote.

Lawmakers in the House could choose to consider the Senate’s GENIUS Act instead of moving ahead with their committee bill, which may speed up final action.

Some members have suggested merging stablecoin rules into a wider cryptocurrency market-structure bill, though that effort appears more complex.

President Trump has said he wants a stablecoin law on his desk by August. Last week, his senior advisors released a statement of administration policy declaring, “If [GENIUS] were presented to the President in its current form, his senior advisors would recommend that he sign it into law.”

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