President Trump on Friday signed legislation that established new cryptocurrency regulations that added validity to the crypto-trading business.
Republican lawmakers and crypto industry leaders surrounded Mr. Trump in the East Room of the White House when he signed the Genius Act, fulfilling one of his top legislative goals.
“With today’s signing we’re pushing even further into the exciting new frontier, just as I promised last year, the Genius Act creates a clear and simple regulatory framework to establish and unleash the immense promise of dollar-backed stablecoins,” Mr. Trump said.
Stablecoin is a category of cryptocurrency that keeps a stable value by pegging it to a less volatile asset, such as the U.S. dollar or a commodity like gold.
“This could be perhaps the greatest revolution in financial technology since the birth of the Internet itself,” said Mr. Trump, whose business empire has made hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency ventures, according to Bloomberg.
The Genius Act cleared Congress on Thursday with the House voting overwhelmingly for the first-ever major overhaul of cryptocurrency regulations.
It was a legislative victory for Mr. Trump, but also a win for the crypto industry by likely helping make digital assets a mainstream financial instrument.
The president noted the lawsuits and scrutiny the crypto industry had endured during the Biden administration, saying, the entire crypto community was “mocked and dismissed and counted out.”
“This signing is a massive validation of your hard work and your pioneering spirit and your ability to never give up. A lot of people would have given up two or three years ago,” he said. “I want to thank you for contributing to the incredible strength of America. This is going to make it stronger. And congratulations on this incredible achievement.”
The president recalled that during the 2024 campaign, he was the first presidential candidate in history to address the Bitcoin Conference.
“And at that time, crypto builders and founders were under relentless assault by the Biden administration, which was trying to crush your industry. … and I got the greatest applause of the whole campaign. We fired Joe Biden’s SEC chair, Gary Gensler. We fired him,” he said to cheers from the crowd in the East Room.
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, who was at the event, said he was impressed at the speed at which the administration has been working in tandem with Congress.
“This is a lot of legislation and it’s complex, and the partnership and collaboration with industry has also been quite strong,” Mr. Tenev told The Washington Times.
“I know a lot of people quibble about some details, and there’s always things that could be improved, but I think it’s been incredibly strong,” he said. “It’s a great start to making the US the global leader in digital assets.”
Other tech industry leaders in attendance included Dave Ripley of Kraken, Brian Armstrong of Coinbase, Paolo Ardoino of Tether, Jeremy Allaire of Circle and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss of Gemini Exchange.
The House voted 308-122 to approve the Senate-passed GENIUS Act, with over 100 Democrats, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, joining most GOP lawmakers to support the bill.
It passed the Senate on June 17 in a bipartisan 68-30 vote.
