The Senate gave its stamp of approval on Wednesday to a massive...

18 Dems give GOP an assist to put GENIUS Act over the line

The Senate gave its stamp of approval on Wednesday to a massive and growing chunk of the cryptocurrency industry, blessing it with a light-touch regulatory regime that, experts say, may come with a price tag: the stability of the country’s financial system. It’s the most significant victory yet for the crypto lobby, which enjoys near-unanimous support in the Republican Party as well as significant backing from many Democrats.

This bill passed with 68 votes in support, 30 against. Eighteen Democrats joined nearly all Republicans in supporting the bill.

Just wow.

  • chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    1·
    1 day ago

    Among other things, the bill allows bank subsidiaries and big tech companies to issue their own stablecoins

    Did they change this? I thought that this bill was going to specifically exclude tech companies and be just for banks.

    The result is that stablecoin issuers may end up acting somewhat like banks, investing what stablecoin users think of as deposits in various ways. Problems may arise in the event of a crisis: stablecoin users could attempt to redeem their coins for dollars en masse, causing a run. That could then spark a mass withdrawal of the backing assets, rapidly depressing the treasury market or destabilizing banks that hold the cash that backs various coins.

    This seems like a strange criticism since the main thing the bill does is prohibit creative investment of dollar deposits backing a stablecoin:

    The bill would require stablecoins to be fully backed by liquid assets like US dollars or Treasury bills and mandate monthly public disclosures of those reserves.

    • humanspiral@lemmy.caEnglish
      2·
      16 hours ago

      Regulated stablecoins (main legislation achievement) is a big consumer benefit. Selling for USD is normal “withdrawal process”. The legislation creates less of a reason for stable coins to deviate from USD value, but trading for bitcoin or other currency is much easier, as is escaping the country.

      The consumer benefit is potentially getting a 2-3% discount on payments compared to credit cards. And getting better “bank deposit” rates as companies get more competitive in sharing their reserve returns with customers.