US President Donald Trump signed one of the first bills related to crypto and blockchain of his administration into law on Friday after delays due to debates in the House of Representatives and Senate.
In a Friday signing ceremony attended by many cryptocurrency company executives and high-ranking Republicans, including Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson, Trump signed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act into law.
The president acknowledged the support of several crypto figures in attendance, including Kraken co-CEO David Ripley, Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino and Robinhood CEO Vladimir Tenev.
“The entire crypto community, for years, you were mocked and dismissed and counted out, you were counted out as little as a year and a half ago, but this signing is a massive validation […] of your hard work and your pioneering spirit,” said Trump, reading prepared remarks.
David Sacks, Trump’s AI and crypto czar, added:
“This GENIUS Act will unlock American dominance in the crypto industry by creating crypto rules of the road, it will update archaic payment rails with a revolutionary new payment system, and it will extend US dollar dominance […] globally by creating a digital dollar that people all over the world can use.”
The president used his platform to summarize initiatives introduced since January in response to demands from the crypto industry, including pardoning Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, establishing a national Bitcoin (BTC) reserve, and nominating Paul Atkins to head the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Trump said he backed the industry in part “for the votes” in 2024.
SEC Chair Paul S. Atkins said in a statement that “blockchain and crypto asset technologies have the potential to revolutionize America’s financial infrastructure and deliver new efficiencies, cost reductions, transparency, and risk mitigation for the benefit of all Americans.
Ensuring that the U.S. is the best and most secure place in the world to invest and do business requires clear rules of the road that allow market participants to adopt emerging technologies with confidence.”
Related: GENIUS Act heads to Trump’s desk: Here’s what will change
This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.
