Key Points:
- The GENIUS Act establishes the first federal framework for dollar-pegged stablecoins, granting sweeping authority to the Department of Treasury and opening the door to banks, fintechs, and retailers.
- Democrats failed to secure a provision barring the president from profiting, even as Trump disclosed earning $57 million from token sales in 2024 alone.
- Industry giants like Amazon and Walmart are reportedly moving toward stablecoin-style offerings as payment networks brace for disruption.
The Senate passed the GENIUS Act, a landmark bill that for the first time establishes federal guardrails for U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins and creates a regulated pathway for private companies to issue digital dollars with the blessing of the federal government.
Disrupting legacy rails
Stablecoins are a subset of cryptocurrencies pegged to the value of real-world assets. About 99% of all stablecoins are tethered to the price of the U.S. dollar. They offer instant settlement and lower transaction fees, cutting out the middlemen and directly threatening legacy payment rails. Shopify has already rolled out USDC-powered payments through Coinbase and Stripe. Bank of America’s CEO said last week at a Morgan Stanley conference that the bank is having conversations with the industry and individually exploring stablecoin issuance.
Trump’s stake
While Democrats tried to amend the bill to prevent the president from profiting off crypto ventures, the final legislation only bars members of Congress and their families from doing so. Trump’s first financial disclosure as president, revealed he earned at least $57 million in 2024 alone from token sales tied to World Liberty Financial, a crypto platform closely aligned with his political brand. He holds nearly 16 billion WLFI governance tokens — the crypto equivalent of voting shares — which could be worth close to $1 billion on paper, based on prior private sales. The family’s ventures, which include the controversial $TRUMP meme coin, a $2.5 billion bitcoin Treasury and proposed bitcoin and ether ETFs via Truth.Fi, and a newly launched mining firm called American Bitcoin, reflect an aggressive push into digital finance.
Forbes recently estimated Trump’s crypto holdings at nearly $1 billion, lifting his total net worth to $5.6 billion.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/17/genius-stablecoin-bill-crypto.html
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