GENIUS Act: Trump signs stablecoin bill into law
Trump signs new crypto regulations into law
Unicoin Founder and CEO Alex Konanykhin joins LiveNOW's Austin Westfall to discuss President Donald Trump's signing of the GENIUS Act, a landmark crypto bill.
In a major milestone for the crypto industry, President Donald Trump and Congress this week put new regulations in place for stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency tied to assets like the U.S. dollar.
They passed and signed the GENIUS Act into law.
What are stablecoins?
How cryptocurrencies work
As cryptocurrencies and related technologies reach into politics, intertwine with the larger economy and impact the environment, everyone could use a sense of what they are and how they work.
Big picture view:
Stablecoins are a fast-growing corner of the cryptocurrency industry that have produced enormous profits for some of the major players involved.
They offer a buffer from cryptocurrency’s notorious volatility because they are pegged to real-world assets, like U.S. dollars or gold. Typically, that means a single stablecoin is worth $1, making them a much more reliable digital asset for commercial transactions than other forms of crypto.
What is the GENIUS Act?
US President Donald Trump displays the GENIUS Act (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act), which codifies the use of stablecoins -- cryptocurrencies pegged to stable assets like the US dollar or US bonds -- after signing
The GENIUS Act is the formal name for the stablecoin bill: Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins. The stablecoin bill regulates how stablecoin issuers operate in the U.S.
The backstory:
The move to regulate the industry has been bipartisan. The bill creates a federal framework to regulate the stablecoin industry, which is currently governed by a patchwork of existing federal and state laws.
Presently:
President Trump signed the GENIUS Act into law Friday after it passed with bipartisan support in Congress.
What they're saying:
Trump has repeatedly pledged to make the U.S. the "crypto capital of the world."
"For years you were mocked and dismissed and counted out," Trump told crypto industry executives at a White House bill signing attended by about 200 people, including several top GOP lawmakers. "This signing is a massive validation of your hard work and your pioneering spirit."
Trump said in a White House memo that the bill’s passage "could be perhaps the greatest revolution in financial technology since the birth of the internet itself."
Trump signs "Genius" crypto 'stablecoin' act into law
A historic week for crypto legislation in Congress, as Trump administration legislation to standardize crypto currencies with a "stable coin" has been signed into law with the Genius Act.
The other side:
Trump’s involvement in the crypto industry complicated the legislation’s path, as some Democrats said the legislation could help Trump enrich himself.
Trump launched a meme coin earlier this year that has generated more than $320 million in fees for its creators, according to the blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis.
And his family holds a significant stake in World Liberty Financial, a crypto project that launched its own stablecoin earlier this year and received an early boost from an investment fund in the United Arab Emirates.
Big picture view:
A provision of the GENIUS Act bans Congress members from profiting off stablecoins but excludes the president and his family.
The Source: Information in this article was taken from public remarks given by President Trump during the bill’s public signing on Friday, July 18, 2025, and from a White House memo on the passage. Background information was taken from The Associated Press. This story was reported from Detroit.