Skip to content
On the 18th of July 2025, the U.S. government passed three pieces of landmark crypto legislation that will introduce greater regulatory certainty and transparency across the digital asset industry. The three bills in question are the Clarity Act, the Genius Act and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act. Each of these bills focuses on a different aspect of the crypto space. The Clarity Act provides clearer and more precise definitions for digital assets and redistributes authority between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to help streamline market oversight; the Genius Act focuses on stablecoins, making it law that all issuers must hold full reserves in U.S. dollars or short‑term Treasuries and provide monthly disclosures; and finally the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, which would bar the Federal Reserve from issuing a retail central bank digital currency.
In this article, we take at what each piece of landmark crypto legislation entails, the status of each Act, and how together they will allow for greater crypto integration, innovation and user confidence.
Crypto Week: The Clarity Act, the Genius Act and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act
The week beginning 14th of July was coined Crypto Week in the United States, given that deliberations would commence in the key House and Senate committees regarding three pieces of landmark crypto legislation: the Clarity Act, the Genius Act and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act. The House first convened on 17th July to discuss the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which was approved by a bipartisan vote of 294 – 134 to establish clear definitions for digital assets and delineate SEC and CFTC jurisdiction. Next up was the Anti‑CBDC Surveillance State Act, which passed 219 – 210 to bar the Federal Reserve from issuing a retail CBDC and therefore safeguard Americans’ transactional privacy.
Later that afternoon, the House also cleared the Genius Act by a 308 – 122 margin, sending the stablecoin framework bill to the President’s desk. On the 18th of July 2025, President Donald Trump officially signed the Genius Act. The Clarity Act and the Anti-CBDC Act now await a hearing in the Senate, and upon approval, will also be sent to President Trump’s desk. With the Genius Act now law, stablecoins are finally federally sanctioned assets with a clear runway into mainstream adoption, institutional issuance and innovation.
Mainstream banks and tech companies will now feel confident to launch dollar-backed tokens as a routine part of their product offerings, making cross-border payments, remittances and payroll services possible for everyday users as part of retail banking apps. On the investment side, the requirement that reserves be held in U.S. dollars or short‑term Treasuries is likely to channel significant new capital into government debt markets. Following news of the passing, Dante Disparte, Chief Strategy Officer at Circle, the company behind dollar-backed stablecoin USD Coin (USDC), stated: “The House vote to clear the Genius Act for the President’s signature is a defining moment for the future of money and the internet financial system.”
Crypto integration, innovation and user confidence
The passing of the Clarity Act, the Genius Act and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act marks the start of a new era of empowerment for both businesses, investors and individual crypto users in the U.S. To begin with, the Genius Act, already signed by President Trump, requires monthly disclosures and strict audits that will help build trust among retail users and institutional investors. In this sense, it is comparable to the European MiCA (Markets in Crypto‑Assets Regulation) regulation. While MiCA covers all crypto assets and the Genius Act just stablecoins, both pieces of legislation require that all stablecoins are backed by real money. They also both increase consumer protection, prohibiting risky algorithmic coins that don’t hold real‑asset reserves or mandate 1:1 redeemability.
This development is also excellent news for the integration of crypto payments, as it gives merchants and service providers regulatory certainty and the green light to integrate tokenized dollars into their payment flow. In bypassing traditional card networks and banking rails, businesses could expect fee savings of two or three percent per transaction, savings that can be passed onto consumers or invested back into the business. Settlement times will also be reduced from days to seconds, as stablecoins operate on blockchain technology and crypto payments finalize almost immediately, therefore improving cashflow and financial planning. Most importantly for some, the integration of stablecoins removes currency‑conversion barriers and enables U.S. merchants to transact seamlessly with overseas clients, avoiding the usual cross-border payment friction. This could ultimately accelerate e‑commerce expansion, streamline cross‑border trade and democratize access for SMEs.
To find out more about crypto payment trends, onboarding crypto payments through ForumPay or to speak to a member of the team, visit www.forumpay.com.
