House Passes Three Crypto Bills
Commentary by Gage Raju-Salicki
The US House of Representatives passed: (i) the GENIUS Act, a bill to create a regulatory framework for stablecoins; (ii) the CLARITY Act, a bill which defines when a cryptocurrency is a security or a commodity; and (iii) the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act, a bill designed to block the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency ("CBDC") without congressional approval.
In a 308-122 vote, the House passed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act. As previously covered, the bill: (i) "establish[es] a framework for issuing and redeeming payment stablecoins;" (ii) "require[s] stablecoin issuers to maintain reserves on a 1:1 basis, composed of assets such as US currency, Treasury bills and demand deposits;" (iii) "prohibit[s] non-approved entities from issuing stablecoins;" and (iv) provides for "regulatory oversight [by] federal and state financial regulators, with the Federal Reserve, the OCC and the FDIC serving as primary regulators." The Senate passed the GENIUS Act in June 2025. (See previous coverage.)
In a 294-134, the House passed the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 (the "CLARITY Act"). As previously covered, the bill defines when a cryptocurrency is a security or a commodity and limits the SEC's jurisdiction. The bill will now advance to the Senate.
In a narrower vote of 219–217, the House passed the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act. The bill prohibits the Fed from directly or indirectly issuing a CBDC to individuals. As outlined in the bill, a Federal Reserve bank "may not offer products or services directly to an individual," nor "maintain an account on behalf of an individual." The Fed is barred from creating any digital currency that is "substantially similar under any other name or label." The bill will now advance to the Senate.
Commentary
One month after it passed in the Senate, stablecoin legislation passed in the House. The GENIUS Act still raises important questions as to: (1) the prohibition on yield-bearing stablecoins as "payment stablecoins," and (2) the exception for foreign issuers.
On the former, the GENIUS Act does not treat yield-bearing stablecoins as "payment stablecoins"—ostensibly, because these tokens are more akin to interests in an investment fund. (Previously, the SEC's Division of Corporate Finance said in a statement on stablecoins, that it "do[es] not express a view regarding the application of the federal securities laws to yield-bearing stablecoins[.]'")
On the latter, there is a foreign issuer limitation built into GENIUS. The Act provides that it is "unlawful . . . to offer, sell, or otherwise make available . . . a payment stablecoin issued by a foreign payment stablecoin issuer ... unless the foreign payment stablecoin issuer has the technological capability to comply, and will comply with any terms [pursuant to the Act]." Section 18 allows a foreign issuer if it is (1) subject to comparable regulations as determined by the Treasury, (2) registered with the OCC, (3) has sufficient reserves in the US, and (4) the country in which it is domiciled in isn't sanctioned or otherwise an AML concern. This allows for entities outside the US to create stablecoins and ultimately provide them to US customers—something previous iterations of GENIUS would not have allowed. The scope of the gateway for foreign issuers is uncertain, however; e.g., is the EU's MiCA a comparable regulatory regime?
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