U.S. House Clears Stablecoin Bill With Bipartisan Support, Heads to Senate

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, sending the most comprehensive federal stablecoin legislation to date to the Senate. The 312-117 vote included unusually broad bipartisan support, with 89 Democrats joining Republicans in favor. The bill creates a federal licensing regime for stablecoin issuers and clarifies the regulatory treatment of dollar-backed tokens.

What the Bill Does

The GENIUS Act establishes a new federal license, issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, for stablecoin issuers. Issuers must hold 1:1 reserves in cash, short-dated Treasuries, or repo agreements, with monthly public audits. The bill preempts state money-transmitter regimes for federally licensed issuers and provides a clear path for banks and non-banks to issue tokens.

"For the first time, the United States will have a federal framework for stablecoins that gives issuers clarity, gives users protection, and gives the dollar a structural advantage in the next generation of payments," said House Financial Services Committee chair Patrick McHenry.

Key Provisions

• Federal license: Issued by the OCC
• Reserve requirements: 1:1 cash, T-bills, or repo
• Audit: Monthly, public
• Preemption: Replaces state money-transmitter regimes for licensees
• Consumer protection: Mandatory redemption at par

The Coalition Behind the Bill

The unusual alignment of banks and crypto firms behind the bill reflects how much the landscape has changed. JPMorgan, Citigroup, and Bank of America now support a federal framework, as do Circle, Coinbase, and most major crypto-native issuers. The shared interest: replacing the patchwork of state regimes with a single federal rule that allows compliant issuers to scale nationally.

What's Next

The Senate is expected to take up the bill in September. Procedural hurdles remain: several Democratic senators have raised concerns about the Trump family's crypto holdings and the bill's ethics provisions. If those are addressed, the bill could reach the President's desk before the end of the year. Implementation would likely begin in late 2027.

For the global picture, the U.S. framework is arriving just as Europe finalizes its own MiCA-style rules for stablecoins. The two regimes are likely to be compatible enough to enable cross-border issuance, putting the dollar and the euro in competition for the dominant digital money of the next decade.