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The crypto industry just scored its first big legislative victory in Washington since contributing heavily to President Trump's election in November.
By a 68-30 vote Tuesday, the Senate passed the Genius Act, which would establish federal guardrails for dollar-pegged stablecoins and create a regulated pathway for private companies to issue digital dollars.
Trump immediately urged quick passage by the House as well, so he could sign the measure into law. But it is unclear whether House members are in a mood to effectively rubber stamp the Genius Act, as the president suggests. It's possible they could instead focus on advancing a separate bill, dubbed the Stable Act, that has already passed the House Financial Services Committee.
Other notable details:
- Blue defections: Eighteen Senate Democrats voted for the Genius Act. In doing so, they split with senior members of their caucus, including New York's Sen. Chuck Schumer, who is the Senate Democratic leader, and Massachusetts' Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a longtime crypto critic. By contrast, only two Senate Republicans -- Rand Paul of Kentucky and Josh Hawley of Missouri -- crossed party lines to vote against the bill.
- The bipartisan Senate vote signals that a chunk of the Democratic Party is increasingly willing to move on from the Biden era's harder line on crypto policy. One potential stumbling block to gaining even wider legislative support, however: The Genius Act places new ethics restrictions on crypto-related conflicts of interest for members of Congress. But those new rules don't cover the president, whose family is in fact currently operating several crypto ventures for their personal enrichment.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also publicly endorsed the Genius Act, tweeting that he's optimistic stablecoins can enhance the U.S. dollar's status as a global reserve currency.
- Shares in Circle soared on news of the Genius Act's Senate passage. The USDC issuer's shares have now increased more than sixfold since the company's recent IPO on June 5.
Finally, I think it's relevant to point out that the Genius Act vote happened before this weekend's U.S. military strikes in Iran. It's unclear at this point how that might change the legislative workflow in Congress going forward, perhaps crowding out members' time, energy, and attention to other issues like stablecoins.
Along similar lines, there is also an increasingly contentious budget bill for the entire U.S. government still pending final passage.
But for the time being, crypto world can certainly celebrate a big Washington victory. May we all soon live in a world in which financial regulation is the thorniest matter that America has to debate.
Five Things: June 15-21, 2025
The week's top headlines about the emerging technologies and trends reshaping the web:
- After a years-long transition, social media has finally overtaken traditional forms of television as Americans' top news source, according to the 2025 edition of the Digital News Report from Oxford's Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.
- Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said Tuesday that the company's workforce will shrink in the coming years due to accelerating AI adoption. Amazon has already laid off more than 27,000 employees since 2022 and made several cuts this year. (CNBC)
- Coinbase is seeking approval from U.S. market regulators to offer "tokenized equities." The move would allow the crypto platform to offer stock trading via blockchain networks, potentially competing with retail brokerages like Robinhood and Charles Schwab. (Reuters)
- Federal authorities in the U.S. announced a historic crypto bust, seizing $225 million in tokens linked to investment scams. (The Block)
- The Czech Republic's ruling coalition narrowly survived a no-confidence vote in parliament due to a political scandal concerning bitcoin donations, worth millions of dollars, from a convicted drug trafficker. (Decrypt)
Market Snapshot
A quick look at some major indicators as of Friday's market close on Wall Street. For fuller detail, including additional indexes and asset classes, see my spreadsheet here.
| Indicator | Close | Weekly % | YTD % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | $103,506.35 | -1.5% | +10.3% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 21,626.39 | -0.02% | +2.9% |
| Gold | $3,384.40/oz | -2.0% | +28.7% |
| USD Index | 98.77 | +0.6% | -9.0% |
| 10-yr U.S. Treasury Yield |
4.375% | -0.05 | -0.20 |
Looking Ahead
- More crypto-related stock listings are headed to Wall Street. Justin Sun’s Tron will go public through a reverse merger with SRM Entertainment, a small Nasdaq-listed toy company... Sol Strategies, a Toronto-based investment firm that holds $72 million of Solana tokens on its balance sheet, filed a proposal with U.S. regualtors to list its shares on the Nasdaq Capital Market... The trading platform Uphold said it has hired the investment bank FT Partners to explore its corporate dealmaking options, including a possible IPO or sale to a larger financial institution.
- The Bitcoin network continues to evolve in fascinating ways. Reuters reports that Chinese manufacturers with a combined 90% global market share in Bitcoin mining computers are setting up U.S. production facilities to avoid tariffs... Project Eleven, a firm specializing in post-quantum cryptography, has secured $6 million in funding to develop tools that will help secure the Bitcoin network against potential quantum computing threats in the future.
- Researchers at OpenAI have been studying how to rehabilitate AI models that have developed a "bad boy persona" from being trained on malicious data. (MIT Technology Review)
Odds & Ends
- The city of Spokane, Washington, banned bitcoin ATMs from its streets, ostensibly to prevent crypto scams. (Decrypt)
- To pump his 50STATES memecoin, Solana developer Leland King Fawcette just set a new record for fastest solo travel across all 50 U.S. states. Aside from airplane flights to cover the non-contiguous states of Hawaii and Alaska, the feat largely entailed flouting posted speed limits while driving round-the-clock in sometimes inclement weather in his Hyundai Kona.
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Best wishes for a healthy and productive week ahead. 😊