How Trump's groundbreaking crypto bill will affect Americans
After a frantic back-and-forth over the nation's most significant crypto legislation to-date President Donald Trump got Republicans in line to pass a first-of-its-kind law. The House OK'd the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act and the The Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act on Thursday, both with bipartisan support.
The GENIUS Act will create a regulatory framework for stablecoin payments. Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies that are backed 1:1 with an asset, like a U.S. dollar or European euro. The global stablecoin industry has exploded in recent years, reaching a total market size of roughly $250 billion, up from $130 billion just two years ago.
The measure provides rules for stablecoin issuers, including mandates that require audits and that the firm can back the assets they give to customers. Stablecoins have become a major player in the world of digital finance, but, until now, the rules have been unclear. The GENIUS Act aims to bring more trust and stability to the industry, ensuring that companies behind these 'digital dollars' are held accountable for managing people's money safely and transparently.
'This piece of legislation is going to make America the crypto capital of the world, and that's what the president promised,' Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said at Thursday's briefing. The 79-year-old president has been a loud advocate for the budding industry, he even spoke at the Bitcoin Conference 2024 and named an ' AI Czar,' David Sacks, to lead a White House team focused on the digital asset class.
President Trump is expected to sign the GENIUS Act during a White House ceremony on Friday. These reforms are thought to improve trust in the stablecoin market. For example, Tether, an El Salvador-based crypto firm that is the largest stablecoin issuer globally, has been accused of not backing up its assets 1:1. The GENIUS Act would mean that stablecoins in U.S. markets need to show receipts.
Last year the president co-founded his own digital asset company, World Liberty Financial, with his sons Donald Trump Jr., Eric and Barron. The firm is directly involved in various projects, and notably issues its own stablecoin called 'USD1,' according to the company's site. The CLARITY Act passed on Thursday is a market structure bill which aims to provide clear rules for crypto markets by giving oversight to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Under Biden, crypto companies that were subject to SEC enforcement actions complained that former SEC Chair Gary Gensler did not create clear industry guidelines. The CLARITY Act will be taken up by the Senate later this year.
In addition to the landmark crypto legislation, the president is also interested in cutting taxes for crypto. The White House indicated Thursday the president supports exempting small cryptocurrency purchases from taxes, aiming to make using cypto for everyday payments - like buying a cup of coffee - more practical. 'Of course, right now, that cannot happen, but with the de minimis exemption, perhaps it could in the future,' Leavitt said.
Senator Cynthia Lummis (pictured) is leading an effort to pass a bill that would set a $300 threshold for untaxed crypto transactions, allowing purchases under $300, up to $5,000 per year, to be made without triggering taxes. The bill also aims to eliminate double taxation for crypto miners and stakers, provide equal tax treatment for digital assets compared with traditional investments, and clarify how lending digital assets is taxed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
3 minutes ago
- Reuters
Humana renews challenge to downgrade of US Medicare 'star' ratings
July 21 (Reuters) - Humana (HUM.N), opens new tab on Monday filed a new lawsuit over the U.S. government's reduction in the health insurer's star ratings for government-backed Medicare plans, after an earlier challenge was dismissed on technical grounds. Humana, in the lawsuit in Fort Worth, Texas, federal court, says the lower ratings could cause it to lose customers and potentially billions of dollars in bonus payments from the government, which would have been used to reduce premiums and increase benefits for its members. U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor in Fort Worth dismissed those claims last week, finding Humana had failed to exhaust all of its out-of-court options to challenge the ratings. In the new lawsuit, Humana says it has in recent months exhausted an administrative appeals process, giving the insurer standing to sue. "A final Star Rating determines legal rights and obligations, and legal consequences flow from them," the company said. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Medicare, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Humana is one of the largest providers of Medicare Advantage plans in the U.S., which are funded by the Medicare health insurance program for seniors and some disabled people but administered by private insurers. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which is part of HHS, issues star ratings for the plans, from one to five stars, to help beneficiaries choose. Plans with higher star ratings receive higher payments from the government if they keep costs below certain targets. Those bonus payments can be worth hundreds of millions or billions of dollars. Humana first sued HHS in October, after CMS finalized the 2025 star ratings. Like the complaint that was dismissed by O'Connor, Monday's lawsuit challenges the way the ratings were calculated and seeks an order directing CMS to set aside Humana's 2025 ratings and recalculate them.
Daily Mail
3 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
President George W Bush 'feared Saddam Hussein would attempt his own version of 9/11 terror attacks', newly declassified records reveal
President George W Bush was desperate to topple Saddam Hussein amid fears he might orchestrate a repeat of the 9/11 terror attacks, newly declassified records reveal. Private remarks from the US President in the months leading up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq underlined his commitment to 'ridding (the world) of evil-doers', according to the UK's ambassador in Washington. Sir Christopher Meyer said Americans broadly trusted President Bush's decision making on foreign policy, even if, in late 2002, the public were 'not keen to go to war with Saddam'. Documents released to the National Archives in Kew hint at Tony Blair 's initial reluctance to invade Iraq on the basis of Iraqi tyrant Hussein's claim that it had destroyed its WMDs (weapons of mass destruction). And the Ministry of Defence (MOD) also warned there would be 'significant levels of internecine violence' in the aftermath of any invasion. The UK joined the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, leading to Hussein being ousted, with images memorable of jubilant Iraqis toppling a statue of their overthrown former president in Baghdad. But an inquiry led by Sir John Chilcott later found Mr Blair's case for invasion was not justified, and that Hussein posed no imminent threat. Mr Blair stood by the decision to go to war - which many perceive to have tainted his modernist legacy - but apologised for mistakes made. The newly released documents show Sir Christopher, the UK's man in Washington, told Downing Street in December 2002 about President Bush's intentions - and his binary philosophy of good and evil. He wrote in an end-of-year dispatch: 'If Bush decides to invade Iraq in 2003, as looks increasingly likely, it will make or break his presidency. 'Much of the impulse for deposing Saddam Hussein comes from Bush himself. More than anything else he fears another catastrophic terrorist attack on the homeland, especially one with an Iraqi connection. 'His view of the world is Manichean. He sees his mission as ridding it of evil-doers.' The files also reveal how Mr Blair had travelled to Camp David in January 2003 to urge President Bush to allow more time for diplomacy work. But Sir Christopher warned it had become 'politically impossible' to draw back from war at this stage unless Hussein surrendered.
Reuters
3 minutes ago
- Reuters
US Treasury's Bessent calls for review of Fed non-monetary policy operations
WASHINGTON, July 21 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Federal Reserve's vital independence on monetary policy is threatened by its "mandate creep" into non-policy areas and he called on the U.S. central bank to conduct an exhaustive review of those operations. The Fed's autonomy "is threatened by persistent mandate creep into areas beyond its core mission, provoking justifiable criticism that unnecessarily casts a cloud over the Fed's valuable independence on monetary policy," Bessent said in a post on X. He called Fed monetary policy "a jewel box" that should be walled off to preserve its independence, which he called a cornerstone of continued U.S. economic growth and stability. Bessent said a review should be conducted into the Fed's decision to launch a massive renovation project of its headquarters at a time when it is posting operating losses. He did not say who should conduct that review, adding that he has "no knowledge or opinion on the legal basis" for the project. President Donald Trump has railed repeatedly against Fed Chair Jerome Powell and urged him to resign because of the central bank's reluctance to cut interest rates. In recent days Trump has also taken aim at the $2.5 billion renovation at the Fed's almost 100-year-old Washington headquarters, which has exceeded its budget, suggesting there could be fraud involved and that might be a reason to oust Powell. A recent Supreme Court opinion has solidified a long-standing interpretation of the law that the Fed chair cannot be fired over policy differences but only "for cause." The Fed's Board of Governors approved the renovation project, opens new tab in 2017, during Trump's first term, and received design approval from the National Capital Planning Commission in 2020 and 2021. Speaking with CNBC earlier on Monday, Bessent declined to comment on a report that he had advised Trump not to fire Powell, saying it would be the president's decision. "If this were the (Federal Aviation Administration) and we were having this many mistakes, we would go back and look at why. Why has this happened?" said Bessent, whom Trump has mentioned as a possible candidate to replace Powell. "All these PhDs over there, I don't know what they do." Powell last week responded to a Trump administration official's demands for information about cost overruns on the renovation project, saying it was large in scope and involved a number of safety upgrades and hazardous materials removals. Bessent declined to be drawn on predictions that U.S. financial markets could crash if Powell was ousted. Powell's term as chair ends in May 2026, although he is due to stay on as a Fed governor through January 2028. Bessent noted another governor seat will come open in January.
