Senator Cynthia Lummis announced that the bipartisan committee's approval of the GENIUS Act advances efforts to provide stablecoin issuers with a choice between state and national charters, thereby securing the nation's competitive position. Lummis made her statement in a March 13 post on X.
"The Banking Committee's strong bipartisan passage of the GENIUS Act out of committee brings us one step closer to providing stablecoin issuers with choice between state and national charters & will secure our nation's competitive edge in the rapidly evolving digital asset space," said Lummis.
According to Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), alongside Lummis (R-WY), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and House Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-SC), the GENIUS Act was introduced to regulate payment stablecoins. This legislation builds on the previously proposed Lummis-Gillibrand Payment Stablecoin Act from April 2024. The GENIUS Act classifies permitted payment stablecoin issuers as financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act and limits payment stablecoin issuance in the U.S. to approved issuers, including subsidiaries of insured depository institutions, federally qualified nonbank issuers, and state-qualified issuers, as said by Congress.gov.
Sen. Lummis' post
| X
Lummis has been appointed by Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott as the first chair of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Digital Assets. According to a press release by Lummis, this subcommittee in the 119th Congress will focus on advancing bipartisan digital asset legislation aimed at promoting innovation and protecting consumers. It will address areas such as market structure, stablecoins, and a strategic bitcoin reserve while overseeing federal financial regulators to ensure compliance with laws and prevent initiatives like Operation Chokepoint 2.0.
Lummis reintroduced the Boosting Innovation, Technology, and Competitiveness through Optimized Investment Nationwide (BITCOIN) Act in the Senate, with Senators Jim Justice, Tommy Tuberville, Roger Marshall, Marsha Blackburn, and Bernie Moreno as cosponsors. Representative Nick Begich (R-AK) introduced similar legislation in the House. According to a press release by Lummis, the BITCOIN Act aims to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve to strengthen the U.S. balance sheet and ensure transparent management of federal Bitcoin holdings. The act proposes establishing secure Bitcoin vaults managed by the Treasury, implementing a 1-million-unit Bitcoin purchase program, and affirming private Bitcoin holders' self-custody rights.
Lummis was sworn into the U.S. Senate on January 3, 2021, becoming Wyoming's first female senator. She previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2008 to 2016 where she was a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus and worked on fiscal issues and Western policies according to Senate.gov.
