Congress crypto temp check

Turns out that Congress, maybe, just maybe, will do something big on crypto this year.

Admittedly, I had my doubts. Considering the circular boxing match playing out among Republicans on their tax and spending megabill, one wondered whether the political will was there to advance the GENIUS Act, which puts in place comprehensive rules around stablecoins.

Yet, a late evening cloture vote provided decisive, and with a big handful of Democrats crossing the aisle, the GENIUS Act moved definitively closer to approval.

I’d be stunned if the House of Representatives found a way to bungle this one. The challenge was always the Senate, where Republicans lacked a firm governing majority and bipartisan support was always necessary. 

Yet here we are, and I applaud the senators for doing what recent years seemed to prove was impossible: passing comprehensive reform to empower, rather than stymie, US digital asset businesses. Barring a dramatic collapse in support ahead of a final, simple majority vote, the GENIUS Act will head to the House for what will — fingers crossed — be swift approval. 

One hopes the momentum continues and we’ll see advancements around market structure reform. A discussion draft of the proposed legislation was released earlier this month, signaling that the work to gather support continues. Federal agencies have long sought clarity from Congress on industry oversight and lawmakers should seize the moment before next year’s election season takes over Washington.

These are critical times, and it’s encouraging to see Congress take critical steps.

— Michael McSweeney

_{Brought to you by:}

Stablecoins shouldn’t be one-size-fits-all.

M0 is the universal stablecoin platform, where builders can create their own application-specific digital dollars.

Build your stablecoin. Your way. Visit m0.org

The Roundup

Empire: The vibes are shifting in a big way around stablecoins.

Forward Guidance: Kraken is leaning into tokenized stocks.

Lightspeed: Jack Kubinec reports live on the ground from Solana’s Accelerate conference.

0xResearch: Oh yeah, it’s REV time over at 0xResearch. 😎

The Drop: So long, Ember Sword. 🙁

Supply Shock: It’s bitcoin’s time to eat the world.

_{Brought to you by:}

Without institutional trust, DeFi can’t reach its full potential. The financial ecosystem that governs trillions of dollars across global markets isn’t built on code alone — it is built on credibility, collaboration, and the ability to deliver reliable solutions at scale. That’s why DeFi’s biggest challenge isn’t just about speed or scalability. It’s about earning the confidence of the very institutions it seeks to disrupt — and that’s a problem no protocol can afford to ignore.

You heard it here first: Pyth is on a mission to collect the price of everything. Pyth Network is a public, decentralized data infrastructure designed to power the next generation of financial applications.

Supported by leading financial institutions including the Cboe, Sygnum Bank, Revolut, Two Sigma, and Virtu Financial, Pyth provides a unique opportunity for data providers to securely monetize their quote and trade data while contributing to the evolution of the digital asset ecosystem.