House votes on trio of cryptocurrency bills aimed at legitimizing the industry
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House is voting on a trio of bills Thursday intended to boost the legitimacy of the cryptocurrency industry with new regulations as U.S. President Donald Trump has pushed to make the U.S. the ' crypto capital of the world.'
One of the bills, which would regulate a type of cryptocurrency called stablecoins, has already passed the Senate with broad bipartisan support and will head to Trump's desk if it passes the lower chamber. The other two — legislation to address cryptocurrency market structure and a bill to prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency — have yet to be passed in the Senate.
The stablecoin bill sets initial guardrails and consumer protections for the cryptocurrency, which is tied to a stable asset, often the U.S. dollar, to reduce price volatility. It passed the Senate with bipartisan support in June.
'Around the world, payment systems are undergoing a revolution,' said House Financial Services Chair French Hill of Arkansas as lawmakers debated the stablecoin legislation Thursday morning. Hill said the bill will 'ensure American competitiveness and strong guardrails for our consumers.'
After Trump declared it 'crypto week,' the bills were stalled for more than a day amid disagreements among House Republicans about how to combine the legislation. In the end, GOP leaders put the three bills for a separate vote, leaving the fate of the other two bills unclear. The internal dissent could foreshadow challenges ahead for the more sweeping crypto legislation that Trump has demanded and the industry has poured millions into advancing.
The stablecoin measure is seen by lawmakers and the industry as a step toward adding legitimacy and consumer trust to a rapidly growing sector. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in June that the legislation could help that currency 'grow into a US$3.7 trillion market by the end of the decade.'
The bill outlines requirements for stablecoin issuers, including compliance with U.S. anti-money laundering and sanctions laws, and mandates that issuers hold reserves backing the cryptocurrency. Without such a framework, Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee in a statement warned, 'consumers face risks like unstable reserves or unclear operations from stablecoin issuers.'
Despite some bipartisan support, the bill faced pushback as it made its way through Congress. Democrats felt that it did little to address Trump's personal financial interests in the crypto space.
'No one should be surprised that these same Republicans' next order of business is to validate, legitimize, and endorse the Trump family's corruption and efforts to sell the White House to the highest bidder,' said California Rep. Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the Financial Services panel.
A provision in the stablecoin bill bans members of Congress and their families from profiting off stablecoins. But that prohibition does not extend to the president and his family, even as Trump builds a crypto empire from the White House.
In May, the Republican president hosted a private dinner at his golf club in Virginia with top investors in a Trump-branded meme coin. His family holds a significant stake in World Liberty Financial, a crypto project that launched its own stablecoin, USD1.
Trump reported earning US$57.35 million from token sales at World Liberty Financial in 2024, according to a public financial disclosure released in June. A meme coin linked to him has generated an estimated US$320 million in fees, though the earnings are split among multiple investors.
Some Democrats also criticized the bill for creating what they see as an overly weak regulatory framework that could pose long-term financial risks. They've also raised concerns that the legislation opens the door for major corporations to issue their own private cryptocurrencies.
'If this bill passes, it will allow Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg to issue their own money. The bill still permits Big Tech companies and other conglomerates to issue their own private currencies,' said Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee.
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Mary Clare Jalonick And Joey Cappelletti, The Associated Press
Associated Press writer Alan Suderman contributed to this report.
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