The first prominent national crypto legislation in the US.

Officially described as the US's first law to address the nation's cryptocurrency matters, it is, therefore, entering a significant moment.

A still-cited major statute for that formerly fringe business with those sectors emerged after the long-lingering debates on congressional regulation, and $20 million was dumped into the 2020 polls for selected candidates, including Donald Trump.

This law sets up a framework for regulating so-called stable coins, a type of cryptocurrency that has asset backing considered reliable, e.g., the dollar.

It would be signed into law by Trump on Friday after getting House approval on Thursday, alongside the Senate's approval last month.

Known as the Genius Act, it is one of three Trump-supporting bills on cryptocurrencies moving through Washington.

The president once called crypto a scam, but his mood shifted after the sector stood behind him, and he became an active participant himself, having business ties involving firms like World Liberty Financial.

Critics of the bill say it will create new risks to the financial system by formally allowing stable coins without enough protections for consumers. They claimed it would deepen tech companies' involvement in bank-like activities without the inclusion of oversight connected with banks, as well as leave consumers in the irregular bankruptcy process of a stable coin company if it went under. They had also attempted to build opposition to the bill, arguing that voting for it was tacitly approving of Trump to conduct business the way he conducts his business, including promoting crypto coins by members of his family, while allegedly giving them an unfair monetary advantage.

It did generate half-way significant support from Democrats, of whom some half would support the bill, as well as most Republicans.  In a letter to Congress this spring, a coalition of consumer and advocacy organizations wrote, "Some members might prefer to believe that passing this bill is preferable to the status quo, even with its flaws. We believe that this is a serious misunderstanding of the risks posed by these instruments." 

Declaring passage of the legislation would "introduce (identify how many table 4) the proliferation of assets consumers would incorrectly consider safe". 

Analysts had predicted that Congress would pass all the bills earlier this week, but several unforeseen "snags" led to delays.

Two additional bills have been passed by the House and are headed to the Senate, in which Republicans hold a slim majority. These bills would bar the Federal Reserve from launching a digital currency and set up the regulatory framework for the other types of cryptocurrencies.

The reports have it that Trump is working on an executive order allowing a retirement account to invest in private assets like crypto, gold, and private equity.

This week, Bitcoin hit an all-time high, passing $120,000 (£89,000).

Nonetheless, Terry Haines of the Washington-based analysis firm Pangaea Policy said that with regard to the other two, more substantial bills, he didn't expect them to go very far.

"This is likely the end for crypto wins for quite a while-and the only one", he wrote. "If it takes ~4 to 5 years for something straightforward like stable coins and survives a handful of teetering industry scandals to reach this point, then it's not very much to cluck about."

SOURCE : NEWS AGENCIES