U.S. Senate Passes GENIUS Act With Bipartisan Support

Summary:

U.S. Senate passed the GENIUS Act on June 18 with 68 votes in favor and 30 against, sending it to the House of Representatives for further deliberation. The legislation introduces the first comprehensive regulatory framework for stablecoins in the United States. The move is expected to enhance consumer protection and financial innovation while raising ethical concerns about conflicts of interest.

Key Points:

● The Senate passed the GENIUS Act, introducing U.S. stablecoin regulation.

● Strong bipartisan support observed with 68 votes in favor.

● Market optimism tempered by conflict of interest concerns.

The U.S. Senate's approval of the GENIUS Act signifies a significant step towards regulating stablecoins. With 68 votes in favor, the bipartisan decision demonstrates a keen interest in setting federal standards in the crypto sector. Senators Tim Scott and Kirsten Gillibrand were instrumental in advancing the legislation which aims to enforce one-to-one reserves and anti-money laundering mechanisms.

Stablecoin Regulation Advances with GENIUS Act Approval

Concerns about potential misuse of power have been highlighted by Democrats, especially given the financial involvement of the Trump family in the crypto market. While the bill fosters safer stablecoin markets, the lack of restrictions on presidential families' profits has sparked controversy. Over $57 million in profits were made by the Trump family's World Liberty Financial project last year.

Market observes a mixed reaction with experts noting the regulatory clarity as a positive development for stablecoin adoption. Elizabeth Warren, among others, voiced concerns over the absence of anti-corruption measures, underscoring possible conflicts of interest this legislation could engender. Her stance reflects an ongoing tension between innovation and ethical governance within the legislative process.

This bill marks a new era of bipartisan cooperation for consumer protection and innovation in the financial sector, ensuring stablecoins serve the American people safely. — Senator Tim Scott, U.S. Senate Banking Committee

GENIUS Act Sets Stage for U.S. Market Stability

Did you know? The GENIUS Act represents the U.S.'s first stablecoin regulation effort since previous bills like the STABLE Act, marking increased bipartisan support in digital finance legislation.

According to CoinMarketCap, USD Coin (USDC) remains steady at $1.00 with a market cap of $61.56 billion. The circulating supply totals approximately 61.56 billion USDC, maintaining its prominence in the stablecoin sector. Recent trading volume stands at $12.30 billion, marking a 6.39% increase over the last 24 hours, indicating sustained market confidence.

USDC(USDC), daily chart, screenshot on CoinMarketCap at 23:13 UTC on June 17, 2025.

The Coincu research team indicates that the GENIUS Act might bolster U.S. market stability, drawing increased institutional interest. With regulatory uncertainty reduced, further investment in U.S.-backed stablecoin projects is likely, aligning with historical trends of increased legal clarity leading to innovation.

Source: CryptoSlate

Risk Warnings and Disclaimers

You understand and acknowledge that there is a high degree of risk involved in trading. Following any strategies or investment methods may lead to potential losses. The content on the site is provided by our contributors and analysts for information purposes only. You are solely responsible for determining whether any trading assets, securities, strategy, or any other product is suitable for investing based on your own investment objectives and financial situation.

Add to Favorites

Liam Peterson

Exports from Japan in May declined 1.7% year-on-year, marking the sharpest decline since September 2024.

The fall was softer than the 3.8% decline forecasted by economists polled by Reuters, but was a reversal compared to the 2% gain recorded in April.

The data comes a day after the Bank of Japan highlighted in its monetary policy statement that the country's growth was likely to "moderate," due to factors like trade, which would lead to a slowdown in overseas economies and a decline in domestic corporate profits.

"It is extremely uncertain how trade and other policies in each jurisdiction will evolve and how overseas economic activity and prices will react to them," the BOJ added.

Falling exports had already made a dent in Japan's GDP, with the country's economy shrinking 0.2% in the quarter ending March, compared to the preceding period, marking the first time in a year that the economy contracted on a quarter-on-quarter basis.

Imports to the world's third largest economy fell 7.7% in May, compared to the Reuters poll expectations of a 6.7% decline.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly said that Japan was being "tough" in trade talks, after six rounds of negotiations between Japan's top negotiator Ryosei Akazawa, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent failed to yield a breakthrough.

Japan currently faces a 10% baseline tariff on exports to the U.S., but that figure could shoot up to 24% under Trump's currently suspended "reciprocal tariffs" if the country does not reach a deal by the time the deadline expires on July 9.

Source: CNBC

Risk Warnings and Disclaimers

Add to Favorites

James Whitman

Cryptocurrency

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed a bill outlining a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies that are directly pegged against the dollar, now setting up the bill for a House of Representatives vote.

The bill, called the GENIUS Act, was backed by both Democrats and Republicans and approved in a 68-30 vote. The bill will now head to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives before it can be sent to President Donald Trump’s desk to be signed into law.

The GENIUS Act’s Senate approval marks a major milestone for U.S. crypto regulation, and comes in line with Trump’s promises of passing crypto-friendly regulation.

Stablecoins are a type of crypto that are designed to maintain a constant peg against mainstream currencies, usually the dollar. They are used largely to facilitate crypto transactions, and have seen growing use in recent years.

Proponents also claim that they can be used to send payments instantly. Currently, Circle’s USDC and Tether’s USDT are the largest stablecoins in the market.

The GENIUS Act, if approved, will require stablecoin issuers to back their currencies with liquid assets such as the dollar and short-term Treasuries. Issuers will also be required to publicly disclose the composition of their reserves every month.

But despite the positive development for the bill, crypto markets remained on the backfoot. Bitcoin fell 2.1%, extending recent losses as risk appetite was battered by a worsening Iran-Israel conflict.

Source: Investing

Risk Warnings and Disclaimers

Add to Favorites

Manuel

China–U.S. Trade War

Economic

Japanese manufacturers grew less confident about business conditions in June and expressed caution about the outlook for the next three months, citing U.S. tariff uncertainties and weak Chinese demand, a Reuters Tankan poll showed.

The monthly poll, which tracks the Bank of Japan's quarterly business sentiment index, recorded a manufacturers' index of plus 6 in June, down from plus 8 in May.

The index is projected to decline further to plus 2 in the coming three months, though it remains in positive territory, signalling that optimists still outnumber pessimists.

The poll, conducted between June 4-13, surveyed 504 major non-financial companies, with 220 responding on condition of anonymity.

Japan has been in intensive negotiations with the United States to fully remove tariffs on its goods, including a 25% duty on automobiles and auto parts, Japan's biggest industry.

"Our clients continue to be cautious about fresh capital expenditure as the Chinese economy has been sluggish and the impact of U.S. tariff policies remains unclear," a manager at a machinery maker wrote in the survey.

Those in the automobiles and auto parts sector also voiced tariff concerns. "Automakers are reducing production due to the U.S. tariff policies," a manager in the sector said.

A chemicals firm manager said that a client automaker had shifted domestic production to the U.S. to mitigate tariff costs. As a result, sales to the automaker have dropped, the manager said.

A pulp and paper maker flagged issues stemming from China's rare earth export curbs, which client companies are scrambling to address and which could affect demand for its products.

For the service sector, the business sentiment index stood at plus 30 in June, unchanged from May. Companies expect sentiment to weaken to plus 24 in the coming three months.

The information and telecommunications sector reported clients' active information technology investments. Inbound tourism helped boost business confidence among services firms.

However, rising labor costs and shortages weighed on some businesses, the survey found.

Source: Reuters

To stay updated on all economic events of today, please check out our Economic calendar

Risk Warnings and Disclaimers

Add to Favorites

James Whitman

Political

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived at the Group of Seven summit on Tuesday, securing new aid from host Canada for the war against Russia after U.S. President Donald Trump left early due to developments in the Middle East.

The G7 wealthy nations struggled to find unity over the conflict in Ukraine after Trump expressed support for Russian President Vladimir Putin and having imposed tariffs on many of the allies present.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Ottawa would provide C$2 billion ($1.47 billion) in new military assistance for Kyiv as well as impose new financial sanctions.

A Russian attack overnight on Kyiv and other cities that killed at least 16 people "underscores the importance of standing in total solidarity with Ukraine," Carney said.

Carney said when G7 leaders met for dinner on Monday before Trump left, they stressed the importance of using "maximum pressure against Russia" to force it to start serious peace talks.

Zelenskiy said he had told the G7 leaders that "diplomacy is now in a state of crisis" and said they need to continue calling on Trump "to use his real influence" to force an end to the war.

"Even if the American President is not putting enough pressure on Russia right now, the truth is that America still has the broadest global interests and the largest number of allies. All of them will need strong protection," he said in a post on his Telegram account.

Although Canada is one of Ukraine's most vocal defenders, its ability to help Kyiv is far outweighed by the United States, the largest arms supplier. Zelenskiy had said he hoped to talk to Trump about acquiring more weapons.

Canada dropped plans for the G7 to issue a strong statement on the war in Ukraine after resistance from the United States, a Canadian official told reporters.

When the summit ends later on Tuesday, Carney plans to issue a chair statement calling for more pressure on Russia through sanctions and saying the G7 backs U.S.-led peace efforts, two G7 sources said.

Canada holds the rotating G7 presidency this year. Other leaders do not need to sign off on G7 chair statements.

A European official said leaders had stressed to Trump their plans to be hard on Russia and Trump seemed impressed, though he does not like sanctions in principle.

Three European diplomats said they had heard signals from Trump that he wanted to raise pressure on Putin and consider a U.S. Senate bill drafted by Senator Lindsey Graham, but that he had not committed to anything.

"I am returning to Germany with cautious optimism that decisions will also be made in America in the coming days to impose further sanctions against Russia," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said.

G7 leaders agreed on six statements, about migrant smuggling, artificial intelligence, critical minerals, wildfires, transnational repression and quantum computing.

KREMLIN SAYS G7 LOOKS 'RATHER USELESS'

Trump said on Monday he needed to be back in Washington as soon as possible due to the situation in the Middle East, where escalating attacks between Iran and Israel have raised risks of a broader regional conflict.

He later said his early departure from the summit had "nothing to do with" working on a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, however, denying comments by French President Emmanuel Macron, who had said the U.S. president leaving could be a sign of a potential deal.

A White House official said Trump explained that he returned to the U.S. because it is better to hold high-level National Security Council meetings in person, rather than over the phone.

Trump did agree to a group statement published on Monday calling for a resolution of the Israel-Iran conflict.

The statement said Iran is the principal source of regional instability and terror and that Israel has the right to defend itself.

Upon arriving at the summit on Monday, Trump said that the then Group of Eight had been wrong to expel Russia after Putin ordered the occupation of Crimea in 2014.

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Trump was right and said the G7 was no longer significant for Russia and looked "rather useless."

Carney also invited non-G7 members Mexico, India, Australia, South Africa, South Korea and Brazil, as he tries to shore up alliances elsewhere and diversify Canada's exports away from the United States.

Source: Reuters

Risk Warnings and Disclaimers

Add to Favorites

Manuel

Cryptocurrency

Political

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed a bill to create a regulatory framework for U.S.-dollar-pegged cryptocurrency tokens known as stablecoins, in a watershed moment for the digital asset industry.

The bill, dubbed the GENIUS Act, received bipartisan support, with several Democrats joining most Republicans to back the proposed federal rules. It passed 68-30. The House of Representatives, which is controlled by Republicans, needs to pass its version of the bill before it heads to President Donald Trump's desk for approval.

"It is a major milestone," said Andrew Olmem, a managing partner at law firm Mayer Brown and the former deputy director of the National Economic Council during Trump's first term.

"It establishes, for the first time, a regulatory regime for stablecoins, a rapidly developing financial product and industry."

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.

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

The House of Representatives passed a stablecoin bill last year but the Senate - in which Democrats held the majority at the time - did not take that bill up, and it died.

Trump has sought to broadly overhaul U.S. cryptocurrency policies after courting cash from the industry during his presidential campaign.

Bo Hines, who leads Trump's Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, has said the White House wants a stablecoin bill passed before August.

Tensions on Capitol Hill over Trump's various crypto ventures at one point threatened to derail the digital asset sector's hope of legislation this year as Democrats have grown increasingly frustrated with Trump and his family members promoting their personal crypto projects.

“In advancing these bills, lawmakers forfeited their opportunity to confront Trump’s crypto grift – the largest, most flagrant corruption in presidential history,” said Bartlett Naylor, financial policy advocate for Public Citizen, a consumer rights advocacy group.

Trump's crypto ventures include a meme coin called $TRUMP, launched in January, and a business called World Liberty Financial, a crypto company owned partly by the president.

The White House has said there are no conflicts of interest present for Trump and that his assets are in a trust managed by his children.

Other Democrats expressed concern that the bill would not prevent big tech companies from issuing their own private stablecoins, and argued that legislation needed stronger anti-money laundering protections and prohibitions on foreign stablecoin issuers.

"A bill that turbocharges the stablecoin market, while facilitating the president’s corruption and undermining national security, financial stability, and consumer protection is worse than no bill at all," said Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, in remarks on the Senate floor in May.

The bill could face further changes in the House of Representatives. In a statement, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors called for “critical changes” to mitigate financial stability risks.

“CSBS remains concerned with the dramatic and unsupported expansion of the authority of uninsured banks to conduct money transmission or custody activities nationwide without the approval or oversight of host state supervisors,” said Brandon Milhorn, president and CEO of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, in a statement.

Source: Reuters

Risk Warnings and Disclaimers

Add to Favorites

Manuel

Economic

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

A discussion among Group of Seven leaders over dinner on Monday did little to move US President Donald Trump toward tougher sanctions on Russia, according to people familiar with the matter.

Trump has been urging Vladimir Putin to agree to a cease-fire in the war in Ukraine, but he has resisted new sanctions on Russia, despite threatening to impose them on multiple occasions. At the summit in western Canada, he frustrated allies further, saying sanctions cost the US a lot of money — and repeated many of those objections over dinner, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Still, a chair’s statement to be issued by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to say that the G-7 backs US-led peace efforts, that Ukraine has shown it’s ready for a cease-fire while Russia isn’t, and that Kyiv’s allies need to continue applying pressure on Moscow through sanctions. A spokesperson for Carney didn’t provide comment on the contents of the statement.

Despite the lack of a firm commitment from Trump, some G-7 leaders, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, remained optimistic the US president would decide to impose restrictions on Moscow.

The European Union proposed an 18th package of sanctions on the eve of the summit, while the UK announced new restrictions targeting Russia’s energy and financial sectors. Both have been also pushing to lower a G-7 price cap on Russian oil, a move the US has so far opposed.

However, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen appeared to step back from the EU’s proposal to lower the cap, a key element of the bloc’s latest sanctions package meant to cut Putin’s ability to fund his war machine.

The EU proposed lowering the cap to $45 per barrel from the current $60, but the recent surge in crude prices has complicated efforts to reach the required unanimity among member states.

“In the last days, we have seen the price has risen so the oil price cap does serve its function,” von der Leyen said on the sidelines of the G-7, where the proposal was discussed. “At the moment, there’s little pressure on lowering the oil price cap.”

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters that he was supportive of implementing the lower threshold. “Obviously we’re still looking at how we’re going to make that work but I strongly believe that we have to put those sanctions in place,” he said on Tuesday.