CNBC's Emily Wilkins from the White House on the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act, known as the GENIUS Act, that President Donald Trump is signing into law.

Washington

President Donald Trump has signed the GENIUS Act, a bipartisan bill focused on regulating stablecoins, into law. The legislation is seen as a major victory for both the Trump administration and the cryptocurrency industry, which has advocated for clearer rules to support innovation and competitiveness in the US.

The bill's passage follows significant lobbying efforts from major crypto companies and a bipartisan political action committee. While the stablecoin bill has been enacted, broader market structure legislation for digital assets is still pending in the Senate. The GENIUS Act also addresses concerns about US dollar dominance and prevents the Federal Reserve from creating a central bank digital currency, reflecting priorities voiced by lawmakers and industry stakeholders.

What to know about Trump's cryptocurrency legislation

Hey, Leslie. Well, yes, certainly a big day for the crypto industry, a big win for President Trump, as well as a number of Republicans. And you heard him during that speech really talk about the contrast between the Trump administration and the Biden administration when it comes to crypto and trying to deliver what the industry wants there. Interestingly enough, though, a lot of these companies, Coinbase, Ripple, Andreessen Horowitz, they've all actually donated to a PAC that has been pretty bipartisan. And that PAC has had a lot of power in the 2024 election. They donated around $200 million to various candidates. And they just announced that they have a current war chest of $141 million that they plan to spend in the midterms in a bipartisan manner. And really what you saw yesterday from these bills is they do have bipartisan momentum. That's going to be really critical for a market structure bill. That is the one, the stablecoin bill is getting signed into law today. But it's market structure, that broader bill for digital assets that a lot of these crypto companies really want to see. That one's not at the finish line yet. It's got to go through the Senate. We know there are some challenges there, getting the Senate, the House to work together, making sure Democrats are on board for passage. But there is hope that they can actually start moving forward on that bill, maybe near the end of September. Optimistically, maybe passage in October. But as we saw this last week, a lot of things can happen. There were a lot of speed bumps to today. And we'll be needing to watch very closely to see if they can get and keep that coalition together to deliver crypto industries the very big win they want. But certainly today with stablecoin is something that both Trump and the crypto industry is celebrating. Emily, how much was this notion about the dollar dominance being a threat? How much of a role did that play in kind of getting President Trump involved? You had David Sachs, the crypto czar, saying that he was the dealmaker in chief. He saved this bill. President Trump was talking about strengthening the dollar, giving the dollar great prominence. And he said losing the reserve currency would be like losing a world war. So was that, do you think, the critical selling piece that got President Trump more involved in this legislation? I mean, Leslie, we've seen this story play out a number of times over the last six months. Congress gets very close to passing an issue. There's a last minute group of members who push back. And then Trump comes in and is able to get folks to yes. Interestingly enough, this time the issue was on preventing the Fed from creating a central bank digital currency. That's something the holdouts were looking for and pushing for there. I think for President Trump, too, the case has been made to him, as it has to a lot of lawmakers, that when it comes to crypto, the US needs to have a structure in place. Otherwise, the US will fall behind. They talk a lot about jobs. They talk a lot about making sure companies are coming to the US. That's been a big, big thing when they've been discussing this, Leslie.

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