© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The week of July 14, dubbed ‘Crypto Week’ by US President Donald Trump and key Republicans in the House of Representatives, hit a rough patch on Tuesday when hardline conservatives opposed the GENIUS Act bill during a procedural vote. This prompted House Speaker Mike Johnson to cancel the remaining votes.
In a statement from the House Majority Whip’s office, members were advised that votes are expected in the House on Wednesday. Trump moved to control the potential damage by meeting “with 11 of the 12 Congressmen/ women necessary to pass the GENIUS Act,” he said in a post on Truth Social.
He said the members had agreed to “vote tomorrow morning in favour of the Rule.”
Cryptocurrency prices tanked briefly from highs touched in the run-up to Crypto Week in the US. Flagship cryptocurrency Bitcoin witnessed an over 9 per cent rally in its value, crossing the $1,20,000-mark for the first time ever early on Tuesday morning. Since the vote, BTC’s value has moderated to $118,227.41 at 1:35 PM IST.
However, Ethereum has rebounded from initial lows after the House vote went counter to expectations, and surged to $3,166.53 at the time of writing from lows of $2,166.57 apiece on Tuesday.
The week of July 14 has been described as ‘Crypto Week’ by mainly Republican legislators since the House of representatives is set to discuss and vote on three bills that are important for the formalisation of cryptocurrency in America — the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act which seeks to set guardrails for cryptocurrencies, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act on issuance of asset-backed cryptocurrencies, and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, which aims to shoot down potential digital currency issuance by the US Federal Reserve citing fears of government snooping.
Stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group’s stock price was down over 4 per cent to $195.33 apiece at market closing on Tuesday. Circle, which listed on exchanges in June has witnessed an upsurge backed by expectations of enabling crypto legislation under Trump’s leadership.
Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings’ stock was down 2.34 per cent and exchange operator Coinbase’s scrip slipped 1.5 per cent at market closing on Tuesday.
To be sure, all of the stocks mentioned above showed a positive uptick in pre-market indications, potentially in response to Trump’s intervention late on Tuesday.
In an article in the publication The Hill, French Hill, the chairman of the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Financial Services, wrote, “We will continue to lead the way towards clear digital asset regulation, and we look forward to putting legislation on President Trump’s desk soon.”
Hill wrote that stablecoins, proposed to be regulated under the GENIUS Act bill, “hold promise as a potential cornerstone of a modern payment system, if issued under a clear regulatory framework.”
However, the GENIUS Act bill, along with the others mentioned above, has been criticised for being “written by and for the crypto industry,” as US House Representative Maxine Waters wrote in an article for MSNBC.
She compared the “innovation” planks being used to back these bills to the one used to dissolve the “firewall between commercial and investment banking, allowing banks, brokers and insurers to combine into mega financial ‘supermarkets’”.
Waters also mentioned US President Trump’s family interests in cryptocurrencies which have earned them nearly $1.2 million so far, according to calculations made by Forbes.
The US House of Representatives is scheduled to hold another vote on the bill at around 12:20 PM EST (9:50 pm IST) on Wednesday, Crypto America reported citing a schedule shared by House Majority leader Steve Scalise.
