Amid the buzz of what has been termed “Crypto Week” by former President Donald Trump, the House of Representatives has passed significant bills regarding cryptocurrency regulation. However, experts have advised against early rejoicing as the application of these changes may take a substantial amount of time.
In a significant development for the cryptocurrency sector, three pivotal bills have been passed – the Genius Act, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act. These pieces of legislation represent vital strides towards forming a regulatory framework for digital assets, driven by lobbying efforts from key industry stakeholders like Coinbase Global.
As a result of the legislative milestone, Bitcoin prices surged past the $123,000 threshold for the first time, along with substantial gains for other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum (ETH) and XRP. However, Jaret Seiberg, analyst at TD Securities, warns that it might take more than a year for these changes to be fully implemented.
Among the ratified bills, only the Genius Act has been approved by the Senate and signed into law by Trump. This act sets a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins, necessitating issuers to maintain one-to-one reserves in US dollars or Treasury securities. However, its immediate impact on stablecoin issuers like Circle Internet Group or Tether is uncertain.
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which clearly defines the regulatory powers over crypto exchanges, brokers, and tokens between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), holds particular significance. The third bill, the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, seeks to prevent the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The future of these bills in the Senate involves lengthy negotiations, potentially extending until December.
