Stablecoin bill heads to Senate floor with bipartisan support | #325

Also, Greg Kidd speaks at BlockTalk 2025 this Wednesday

Mar 17, 2025

Our weekly newsletter covers news, industry perspectives, and updates from the USBC ecosystem. Check out our last report here.

This week:

Stablecoin bill heads to Senate floor
Greg Kidd to speak at BlockTalk 2025
USBC-sponsored athlete Willy Mulonia completes Iditarod Trail Invitational
Stuff happens

1. Stablecoin bill heads to Senate floor

The GENIUS Act is heading to the Senate floor after a bipartisan vote by the Senate Banking Committee. Here’s The Block:

The Senate Banking Committee voted to advance a monumental stablecoin bill, advancing it to the full Senate and gaining support from Democrats along the way.
Introduced in February by Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., the "GENIUS Act" (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins) aims to create a regulatory framework for stablecoins, defining when issuers fall under state or federal oversight. It has bipartisan support from Democratic Sens. Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.
The Senate Banking Committee voted Thursday 18-6 to advance that bill. Democrats Sens. Mark Warner and Andy Kim were among others to support the bill
"The GENIUS Act is a bipartisan step forward in ensuring stablecoins are safe and reliable tools in the financial system," said Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott, R-S.C., at the beginning of Thursday's markup.

Still, it’s complicated. Here’s Blockworks:

If there’s bipartisan support for the legislation, it was not apparent during today’s debate. Democrats put forth a number of amendments to the bill, urging lawmakers to adopt further protections against money laundering and consider more strict guidelines for issuers to receive licenses.
Republican Committee members voted against all of Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s proposed amendments, often with little debate. Hagerty and Sen. Cynthia Lummis, the Act’s main champions, argued the current bill includes AML provisions, robust reserve guidelines, and a strict registration process for issuers.
Democrat proposals would only increase regulatory oversight without increasing consumer protection, Lummis added.
At one point Sen. Warren criticized her Republican colleagues and accused them of “steamrolling” Democrats to advance the bill.
In the end, four Democrats (Sens. Warner, Kim, Blunt-Rochester and Gellego) voted to move the bill out of committee and to the floor.

Elsewhere in digital dollars:

2. Greg Kidd to speak at BlockTalk 2025

BlockTalk 2025 hosted by Blockchain Coinvestors is this Wednesday:

We are delighted to welcome you to BlockTalk 2025, a cutting-edge FREE virtual event dedicated to discovering the best investment strategies for blockchain and crypto asset classes. Embrace the world of digital finance and discover the compelling reasons for incorporating blockchain as a cornerstone of your investment portfolio. Learn from some of the highest performing investors in the world as they share their investment strategies for 2025.
This is a must-attend event for any investor.
We are excited to announce some of the premier blockchain leaders who are speaking including Matthew Hougan of Bitwise, Matt Walsh & Nic Carter of Castle Island, Haseeb Qureshi of Dragonfly, Richard Muirhead of Fabric, Xiao Xiao of Hashkey, Carlos Domingo of Securitize, Michael Fan of T54, and Kristin Smith of the Blockchain Association, among others.

Hard Yaka and USBC co-founder Greg Kidd will be speaking at 11am ET on a panel titled, Next Generation Real World Asset Tokens, where he will discuss the promise of tokenized bank deposits as an alternative digital dollar solution to fully backed stablecoins.

He’ll be joined by: