President Trump has signed into law the first major legislation governing the cryptocurrency industry, the GENIUS Act.
The GENIUS Act governs stablecoins, a form of cryptocurrency that has its value linked to an asset like the American dollar.
“With today’s signing, we are pushing even further into the exciting new frontier. … The GENIUS Act creates a clear and simple regulatory framework to establish and unleash the immense promise of dollar-backed stablecoins,” Mr. Trump said. “This could be perhaps the greatest revolution in financial technology since the birth of the internet itself.”
The president joked, “They named it after me, you know.”
The law gives more power to the Commodities Futures Trading Commission to regulate the crypto industry, and limits the power of the Securities and Exchange Commission to take action against crypto firms. It also makes it easier for banks or other companies to issue stablecoins.
Regulators will have six months to develop specific regulations for the industry, ABC News reports.
Some Democrats criticized the bill as they noted the Trump family has investments in cryptocurrency and suggested that there was a conflict of interest. Mr. Trump’s family launched its own stablecoin through World Liberty Financial earlier this year.
The ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, Maxine Waters, says the bill “does not provide the federal government the full authority it needs” to regulate the crypto industry.
The Trump administration’s crypto tsar, David Sacks, said at the bill signing event that the GENIUS Act will “unlock American dominance in the crypto industry by creating clear rules of the road.”
He also said the law is a “huge promises made, promises kept” moment for Mr. Trump, and credited the president for getting the bill across the finish line.