The House of Representatives has passed the GENIUS Act, which aims to establish the first-ever regulatory framework for fiat-backed stablecoins.

Lawmakers approved the bill in a 308-122 vote after hitting a snag earlier earlier this week.

12 Republicans voted against the measure.

The bill now heads to President Trump’s desk.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) expressed fierce opposition to the bill.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Congress is passing a bill today (GENIUS Act) that that opens the back door to a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The Fed has been working on this for years. The ultimate goal is to move us to a cashless society and digital currency. House Republicans want a ban on CBDC but the Senate says they don’t have enough votes to pass a ban on CBDC!” Greene explained.

Full text:

Remember when Canada froze the truckers (Freedom Convoy) bank accounts and crypto when they protested against vaccine mandates?

Canada NOT China.

Congress is passing a bill today (GENIUS Act) that that opens the back door to a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

The Fed has been working on this for years.

The ultimate goal is to move us to a cashless society and digital currency.

House Republicans want a ban on CBDC but the Senate says they don’t have enough votes to pass a ban on CBDC!

Johnson refused to allow us to make amendments to the bill and says he will put the ban on CBDC in the NDAA.

BUT IF IT WON’T PASS NOW, IT WON’T PASS THEN!!!!!

So why are we passing bills to lay the groundwork for a CBDC that can be used against us in the future by another authoritarian regime?????

ADVERTISEMENT

We saw what a politically weaponized government looked like the past 4 years, just wait until we get another one that can TURN OFF YOUR BANK ACCOUNT AND STOP YOUR ABILITY TO BUY AND SELL!!!!!

I’M VOTING NO!!!!!

The House also passed the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act on Thursday.

The bill “prohibits a Federal Reserve bank from offering products or services directly to an individual, maintaining an account on behalf of an individual, or issuing a central bank digital currency (i.e., a digital dollar).”

“Further, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is prohibited from using a central bank digital currency to implement monetary policy or from testing, studying, creating, or implementing a central bank digital currency, with exceptions as provided by the bill,” it added.

“A central bank digital currency would give bureaucrats at the Federal Reserve the ability to monitor and restrict Americans *individual purchases*,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) said.

“For years, we’ve been working to ban their development—today we achieved that goal by PASSING our Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act,” he added.

More from The Hill:

A group of hard-line Republicans tanked a procedural vote on a trio of crypto bills Tuesday, freezing the floor.

Trump struck a deal to secure their support the next day, but several holdouts remained on Wednesday, as the House attempted once again to adopt a rule governing debate on the bills.

The agreement Trump reached with the hard-liners also prompted new backlash from members of the House Financial Services Committee.

ADVERTISEMENT

The deal sought to add provisions from the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, which aims to bar the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC), to a broader crypto framework called the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act.

Earlier Wednesday, the House voted 294-134 to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. The anti-CBDC measure is up for consideration next.

After hours of deliberation on Wednesday — during which the rule vote remained open and the number of “no” votes from hard-liners continued to grow — GOP leadership reached a deal to add the anti-CBDC provisions to the National Defense Authorization Act.

Critics say stablecoins have the same capabilities as central bank digital currencies, sometimes calling them de facto CBDCs.

“This week, the House is voting on the GENIUS Act which lays the groundwork for a layered Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) where Americans interact with stablecoins but behind the scenes there are the functional surveillance capabilities of a CBDC. The bill as written does not expressly ban a CBDC and does not protect self-custody. Self-custody means that you control your own money, not a third party,” Greene said earlier this week.

“On Jan 23rd, President Trump signed an executive order on digital financial technology with two important clauses: 1. People will maintain self-custody of digital assets. 2. Banning agencies from establishing a CBDC in the U.S. or abroad,” she continued.

“The GENIUS Act does not follow President Trump’s executive order because it does not ban a CBDC. House Leadership did not allow any amendments banning a CBDC. This should NOT be tolerated,” she added.

Reuters noted:

Stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a constant value, usually a 1:1 dollar peg, are commonly used by crypto traders to move funds between tokens. Their use has grown rapidly in recent years, and proponents say that they could be used to send payments instantly.

If signed into law, the stablecoin bill would require tokens to be backed by liquid assets – such as U.S. dollars and short-term Treasury bills – and for issuers to publicly disclose the composition of their reserves on a monthly basis.

ADVERTISEMENT

Blockchain Association CEO and former Commodity Futures Trading Commission official Summer Mersinger described Thursday’s votes as a “defining moment in the evolution of U.S. digital asset policy.”

The crypto sector has long pushed for lawmakers to pass legislation creating rules for digital assets, arguing that a clear framework could enable stablecoins and other crypto tokens to become more widely used. The sector spent more than $119 million backing pro-crypto congressional candidates in last year’s elections and has worked to paint the issue as bipartisan.

 

Join The Conversation. Leave a Comment.