This week has been dubbed Crypto Week in the U.S. House of Representatives as the legislative body will consider three cryptocurrency related bills.
The first is the CLARITY Act, which seeks to establish clear, functional requirements for digital asset market participants, while prioritizing consumer protection and fostering innovation.
The bill, sponsored Rep. French Hill (R-AR), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and G.T. Thompson (R-PA), has 20 cosponsors, including 13 Republicans and 7 Democrats.
Digital assets and blockchain technology have the potential to form the foundation of the next generation of financial innovation, the bill’s sponsors said. But regulation-by-enforcement and regulatory ambiguity have stifled their potential. The CLARITY Act addresses these challenges by establishing a clear regulatory framework for digital asset markets and closing the current regulatory gaps.
“The uncertain legal classification of digital assets is the primary regulatory challenge facing the digital asset ecosystem. At the core of this issue is whether digital assets are properly treated as securities or commodities under U.S. law,” the bill’s sponsors stated. “The answer to this question will determine which federal financial markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), has regulatory authority over which activities of the digital asset ecosystem and what compliance obligations apply.”
The second bill to hit the floor this week is the Anti-CBDC Surveillance Act. This legislation would prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
The lawmakers said this would ensure that the Fed cannot mobilize itself into a retail bank. It would also bar the Fed from indirectly issuing a CBDC to individuals through an intermediary or third party. Further, it would prevent the Fed from using a CBDC as a tool to implement monetary policy.
The third bill discussed this week is the GENIUS Act. The GENIUS Act, recently passed in the U.S. Senate, seeks to provides a clear regulatory framework for the issuance of payment stablecoins. Payment stablecoins are digital currencies that are pegged to a stable currency, such as the U.S. dollar. Stablecoins are currently offered in the United States, but they have little, if any, federal oversight.
The bill, introduced by Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), would create a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins pegged to the U.S. dollar. This would allow the benefits of payment stablecoins to be integrated with existing U.S. payment rails. Payment stablecoins are already widely used. As of April 2025, the total outstanding supply of U.S. dollar stablecoins had crossed $220 billion, an increase of 54 percent since April 2024.