US House passes landmark crypto bills in win for Trump

WASHINGTON

A sign advertises a Bitcoin ATM at a gas station on July 16, 2025 near Pasadena, California.

The U.S. House has passed landmark cryptocurrency bills, delivering on the Trump administration's embrace of the once-controversial industry.

U.S. lawmakers easily passed the CLARITY Act, which establishes a clearer regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.

The bill is intended to clarify rules governing the industry and divides regulatory authority between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

It will now head to the Senate, where Republicans hold a thin majority.

House legislators also easily passed the GENIUS Act, which codifies the use of stablecoins: Cryptocurrencies pegged to safe assets like the dollar.

The GENIUS Act sets rules such as requiring issuers to have reserves of assets equal in value to that of their outstanding cryptocurrency.

The raft of legislation comes after years of suspicion against the crypto industry amid the belief that the sector, born out of the success of bitcoin, should be kept on a tight leash and away from mainstream investors.

But after crypto investors poured millions of dollars into his presidential campaign last year, Trump reversed his own doubts about the industry, even launching a Trump meme coin and other ventures as he prepared for his return to the White House.

Trump has, among other moves, appointed crypto advocate Paul Atkins to head the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

He has also established a federal "Strategic Bitcoin Reserve" aimed at auditing the government's bitcoin holdings, which were mainly accumulated by law enforcement from judicial seizures.