The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill to create a regulatory framework for dollar-pegged cryptocurrency tokens known as stablecoins, sending the bill to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it into law.
The vote marks a watershed moment for the digital asset industry, which has been pushing for federal legislation for years and poured money into last year's elections in order to promote pro-crypto candidates.
House lawmakers also passed a bill developing a regulatory framework for crypto. That will move on to the Senate for consideration.
The stablecoin bill, called the Genius Act, received bipartisan support, with many Democrats joining Republicans to back the proposed federal rules. The vote on the market structure bill, known as the Clarity Act, was also notably bipartisan.
Stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a constant value, usually a one-to-one dollar peg, are commonly used by crypto traders to move funds between tokens. Their use has grown rapidly in recent years, and proponents say that they could be used to send payments instantly.
If signed into law, the stablecoin bill would require tokens to be backed by liquid assets – such as US dollars and short-term Treasury bills – and for issuers to publicly disclose the composition of their reserves on a monthly basis.
The crypto sector has long pushed for lawmakers to pass legislation creating rules for digital assets, arguing that a clear framework could enable stablecoins and other crypto tokens to become more widely used. The sector spent more than $119 million backing pro-crypto congressional candidates in last year's elections and has worked to paint the issue as bipartisan.
The House of Representatives passed a stablecoin bill last year but the Senate – in which Democrats held the majority at the time – did not take up that bill.
Mr Trump has sought to broadly overhaul US cryptocurrency policies after courting cash from the industry during his presidential campaign.
Tension on Capitol Hill over Mr Trump's various crypto ventures at one point threatened to derail the digital asset sector's hope of legislation this year as Democrats have grown increasingly frustrated with Mr Trump and his family members promoting their personal crypto projects.
Mr Trump's crypto ventures include a meme coin called $TRUMP, launched in January, and a business called World Liberty Financial, a crypto company owned partly by the president.
The White House has said there are no conflicts of interest present for Mr Trump and that his assets are in a trust managed by his children.
