Stablecoin Bill Looks Toward Swift Passage After Trump Push — Barrons.com

By Joe LightPresident Donald Trump says he doesn't want Congress to pad a bill to regulate stablecoins with other provisions. That's good news for the bill's prospects, but makes it unlikely that broader legislation sought by crypto exchanges like Coinbase Global will make it to the finish line soon.Earlier this week, the Senate passed a bill to regulate stablecoins with wide bipartisan support. The bill clarifies who oversees the tokens — a type of cryptocurrency that's typically pegged to the dollar — and sets requirements for their reserves.Some industry executives and lawmakers have pushed for combining the Senate's stablecoin bill, dubbed the GENIUS act, with broader legislation on digital asset exchanges and brokers. Wider industry legislation has been a key goal for companies like Coinbase, which have long argued that the rules crypto companies must follow are unclear.But Trump earlier this week seemingly threw up a roadblock to that goal."The House will hopefully move LIGHTNING FAST, and pass a 'clean' GENIUS Act," Trump wrote late Wednesday on TruthSocial. "Get it to my desk, ASAP — NO DELAYS, NO ADD ONs."As late as Friday morning, leaders in the House hadn't completely given up on the idea of still trying to combine the two bills, according to a person familiar with the matter. But the president's opposition would make such an effort particularly fraught."We look forward to continued collaboration with our members and House leadership as we work toward a path forward," said a spokesperson for House Financial Services Chairman French Hill (R., Ark.).Part of lawmakers' hesitance has been that trying to amend the Senate's bill could end up sinking the effort entirely. There's relatively broad agreement among lawmakers on how to oversee stablecoins. That's not the case for the thorny issues that would be included in a market structure bill — such as how to regulate digital assets exchanges and how to determine if a particular cryptocurrency should be subject to securities laws."If the House of Representatives sends back something that's different, then that's going to give those who are already opponents of the bill to say 'Well, we tried. We gave you our vote, but you changed it on us,' and we're going to be right back to square one with a much more complex situation," said Sen. Bill Hagerty (R., Tenn.) on the Bankless podcast on Thursday.There's also hope among some Republicans that the stablecoin legislation could even help out on other priorities, including reducing the deficit. Stablecoins have a total market value of about $256 billion, making them a relatively insignificant part of the U.S. economy.However, if stablecoins become a more important part of payments around the world, the theory goes, it could increase the demand for the Treasury bills and other Treasury-linked securities that the bill requires stablecoin issuers to hold in reserves. The demand could make it easier and cheaper to finance the deficit."This newfound demand could lower government borrowing costs and help rein in the national debt," wrote Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in an X post earlier this week.Hagerty on the podcast this week said he met with Trump and spoke with him about combining the broader bill or moving forward with what they already have in had. Trump said Congress ought to "take the win."Write to Joe Light at [email protected] content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.