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It was a busy holiday weekend in the US.
The headline news was that President Trump signed his sweeping domestic policy package — the “big, beautiful bill” — into law on July 4.
With the BBB squared away, the White House is back in tariff mode. Reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries are slated on Wednesday to move back to the higher levels set on so-called Liberation Day.
This morning, in two Truth Social posts, Trump shared letters presumably sent to Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung. They stated that the US will impose a 25% blanket tariff on all imports from both countries starting on Aug. 1.
Passing the BBB was Republican lawmakers’ first Trump-imposed deadline, but there’s another due date looming. The president wants a stablecoin and market structure bill on his desk by August.
With only three more work weeks before Congress’ summer recess begins, they’ll have to work quickly.
To get this done, the US House last Thursday declared the week of July 14 as “Crypto Week.” Representatives will consider three digital asset-focused bills: the GENIUS Act, the CLARITY Act and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance Act.
The GENIUS Act passed in the Senate last month with a final tally of 68-30. There were 18 Democrats who voted “yea.”
Hailed by proponents as a milestone for the crypto industry and an important first step in bringing regulation to a facet of the market, those against the GENIUS Act argue the bill doesn’t provide enough consumer protection and unfairly benefits Trump-linked stablecoin interests. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is just one of several vocal Democrats criticizing the bill.
Other Dems admit that the bill might not be perfect, but it’s better than nothing.
“We weren’t able to include certainly everything we would have wanted, but it was a good bipartisan effort,” Democrat Senator Angela Alsobrooks told reporters last month ahead of the Senate vote. “This is an unregulated area that will now be regulated.”
Now House members will have a look at the bill, and they’re going to make changes. Representatives are likely to try and bring the bill more in line with the STABLE Act, a similar version of the legislation that never made it to the Senate.
The GENIUS Act notably calls for a tiered approach to overseeing stablecoin issuers, allowing those with under $10 billion in issued assets to be monitored at the state level. The STABLE Act establishes that the primary authorities for stablecoin regulation will be at the federal level, and state power is more conditional.