In a historic vote, the US Senate approved a regulatory framework for stablecoins, delivering a major victory for the crypto industry and Donald Trump. This bipartisan breakthrough could shake up the US payments economy.
A clear framework for dollar-pegged stablecoins
On June 18, 2025, the US Senate passed the GENIUS Act in the afternoon by a vote of 68 to 30. The bill sets out rules for stablecoins pegged to the dollar.
These cryptocurrencies, such as Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC, will now have to be backed by equivalent dollar reserves invested in short-term government debt or other similar products. These reserves will have to be supervised by federal or state regulators.
Tim Scott, Republican senator and chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, welcomed the bill as “bringing clarity to a sector that has been in limbo for too long.” The vote marks the culmination of several years of intensive lobbying by industry giants, who have invested hundreds of millions of dollars to get pro-crypto candidates elected.
At the same time, banks—especially smaller ones—are concerned about this development, fearing a flight of deposits to stablecoins. Others, the largest ones, are already considering issuing their own stablecoins to capture a share of this lucrative market. According to several estimates by specialist analysts, Tether Holdings SA generates around $1.5 billion in net profits per year from interest on its reserves alone.
Trump, stablecoins and political tensions
The law also represents a personal victory for Donald Trump. The USD1 stablecoin, issued by World Liberty Financial and therefore affiliated with the president, has already reached a market capitalization of around $2 billion. But this stablecoin is highly controversial, as the GENIUS Act, recently passed by the Senate, prohibits members of Congress and their families from profiting from stablecoin issuances… but expressly excludes the president and vice president from this restriction.
This legal loophole has been denounced as a potential “unprecedented conflict of interest” by Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic senator and fierce critic of the bill, who accuses the law of “supercharging Donald Trump’s corruption.” Despite Democratic attempts to include an amendment to extend the restrictions to the executive branch, the provision was rejected.
Trump’s open support for the crypto sector, his new political battle horse, could serve as economic and electoral leverage. Bill Hagerty, Republican senator from Tennessee and the bill’s main sponsor, confirmed that he had spoken with Trump and hopes that the House of Representatives will pass the bill “as soon as possible.”
But it’s not over yet: the House is working on a broader bill to regulate the crypto market as a whole. It will have to decide whether to adopt the Senate bill as is or propose a compromise. However, according to Senator Thom Tillis, any changes could kill the bill: “If the House amends it and sends it back, it will be dead on arrival.”
If the bill is passed by the House and signed by Trump, it could pave the way for the widespread adoption of stablecoins as an alternative means of payment that is faster and cheaper than credit cards. This is a revolution that tech and retail giants will be watching closely.
