Crypto firms, which had lobbied for years for a stablecoin bill, insist the matter is settled.
The GENIUS Act “is settled law,” said Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association, a leading industry trade group. “There was robust debate on the Hill, and the way this bill came out was a compromise from policymakers. So we really shouldn’t be trying to go back and reopen that.”
Paige Pidano Paridon, executive vice president at the Bank Policy Institute, which represents large banks, said the group wanted to work collaboratively with the crypto industry to develop “clear, fair rules.”
This isn’t bank vs. crypto — it’s about working together to create rules of the road that apply equally to everyone while protecting consumers and the financial system,” she said. “America’s financial system is built on trust and when your average consumer can’t distinguish between what’s safe and what’s not, risk increases, and American competitiveness suffers.”
At the Securities and Exchange Commission, legacy financial players have been advocating for the Wall Street regulator to proceed cautiously as the agency considers the crypto industry’s pleas to “tokenize” U.S. stocks. Tokenization refers to the process of putting such assets onto the same blockchain technology that underpins crypto tokens like bitcoin and ether.
Proponents argue tokenization will help make trading stocks faster and cheaper around the world. Yet, some like the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association and Citadel Securities, the trading behemoth owned by GOP megadonor Ken Griffin, argue that tokenized stocks should follow the same rules as the thousands of conventional shares that trade today. Lobbyists expect the tokenization fight will play a role in the upcoming debate on Capitol Hill over a market structure bill, which would divvy up crypto oversight between market regulators. Senate Republicans have vowed to pass such a bill this fall.
