GENIUS, Clarity, and Chaos: Washington’s Crypto Week May Explode or Implode 🚀🔥

by

At the epicenter of our nation’s pulsating political disco: the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS—yes, *actual* acronym, what are the chances?) Act, a Senate deal to tame wild crypto horses like Tether and Circle. It’s now stampeding towards a House vote at the behest of President Donald Trump, who’s apparently convinced that “crypto summer” is a thing one should *promise* to voters. If (when?) this passes, we’ll finally get something resembling a federal digital assets law, not just more White House tweets with lasers for eyes. 🦾

Meanwhile, the House—normally a group who can’t even agree on free snacks—has apparently opted to just cave and rubber-stamp the GENIUS Act, instead of fighting for their own oh-so-creatively named STABLE Act (Stablecoin Transparency and Accountability for a Better Ledger Economy; bless congressional staffers and their acronym spreadsheets). Trump’s been very clear: Just sign GENIUS and stop faffing about. (Subtext: daddy needs a win.)

This puts Trump in line to notch another legislative trophy after steamrolling his budget through last week. But, more juicily, it sets the stage to focus on the Digital Asset Market Structure Clarity Act (the “Clarity Act”), which aims to sort the rest of the U.S. crypto market chaos. That beast takes center ring at a Senate hearing this Wednesday, while Congress valiantly tries to wrangle the giant, wriggly crypto economy (imagine attempting to herd caffeinated kittens—blindfolded). 🙀

Senator Bill Hagerty, architect of GENIUS (the Act, not the concept), is already composing his victory speech. “I look forward to enacting the GENIUS Act into law,” Hagerty declared grandly, “and to working with my colleagues to move the CLARITY Act through the Senate in short order.” (Spoiler: “short order” in Congress = probably Christmas.)

Clarity, for its part, is staring down a messier path. Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott circled September 30 on his calendar, which is always optimistic in government time. No promises about actually using the House version though. On the other side, the Senate Agriculture Committee—which gets a say because the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is involved—continues to crawl along. Chairman John Boozman, rumor has it, wants the CFTC at the head of the table but hasn’t even bothered to schedule a hearing yet. (Translation: It’s summer, let’s hit the golf course first.) 🏌️‍♂️

In the House arena, the Clarity Act has survived committee hell and is prepped for a floor vote. If it passes, expect Trump to push for his favorite fast-food option: House version, no substitutions, thank you very much. But here’s the snag: the Senate is the Bermuda Triangle for House-passed crypto dreams. Sixty votes? Could just as well be a moon landing.

Democrat Pushback

GENIUS breezed through the Senate with a 68-30 score (for context: Congress rarely agrees on what day it is), but Clarity is raising much more eyebrow among Democrats. Elizabeth Warren (never met a stablecoin she couldn’t side-eye) insists these crypto bills leave consumers exposed and the nation at risk—also, allegedly, threaten to drown kittens and melt the polar ice cap, depending on the day.

Democrats also can’t help but point to Trumpworld’s tangled love affair with everything blockchain-y: memecoins, NFTs, probably a secret MAGA Dogecoin in the works, who knows. The result? A new push for laws banning top federal officials from owning crypto—which, I mean, not *obviously* pointed at anyone in particular, right?

Still, the crypto industry is properly giddy. The advocacy group Stand With Crypto has been spam—er, *sending letters*—to every House member pleading for support. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, prepping for the Senate hearing, kept it simple: “Once market structure legislation for digital assets becomes law in the U.S., this will catalyze a new era of U.S. competitiveness.” Nothing like the thrill of a USG-backed bull market, eh, Brad?

Crypto Week will also see Republicans dust off their favorite villain: central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act will pop up again. Fans claim it thwarts financial snooping; critics note there’s barely even a CBDC project to stop—like installing an alarm system on an empty parking lot.

GENIUS Act: likely to cross the finish line and earn a Trump signature (and at least nine celebratory Truth Social posts). Clarity Act: might clear the House, possibly, maybe, with a lot of squinting. The Senate? Well, let’s just say, last time, the House passed a crypto market structure bill (FIT21), and it immediately entered the witness protection program over in the Senate.

So now, we’re sprinting towards a finish line drawn in dry-erase marker, fueled by ambition, politics and a whiff of presidential legacy-building. If Trump can shove both stablecoin and market structure bills to passage before Labor Day, it’d be the most dramatic plot twist the U.S. financial system has seen since—well, probably the last time Congress did something on purpose.

If not? Crypto Week could collapse into Crypto Weak (ba-dum-tish). But if all goes miraculously to plan, the regulatory clouds part, the angels sing, and suddenly Bitcoin really is the Once and Future King. The Bitcoin price hit $111,907 today (I checked twice; not a typo) before easing off because, well, traders are scared of heights. All-time highs, price discovery, champagne on the blockchain. If you’re waiting for a sign to go crypto shopping, this is the cue. 🛒✨

 

Read More

2025-07-10 01:22