Logistical details first. There will be markups in the House Financial Services Committee and the House Agriculture Committee on the market structure bill, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (otherwise known as just the Clarity Act) on Tuesday. That markup will likely end with lawmakers voting to advance the bill to the broader House of Representatives (it's possible the vote will fail, but it currently seems unlikely).
On the Senate side, lawmakers might hold a series of votes as early as Monday on the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins of 2025 Act (otherwise known as GENIUS) to advance it. Senator Ruben Gallego, the Arizona Democrat who spearheaded a pause in the bill's advancement, said in an interview on Thursday that he expects a massive bipartisan vote in favor of the legislation. It'll need 60 votes to clear cloture (this is a second cloture vote) and a simple majority afterward to pass the Senate entirely. After that, it's on to the House.
"We've worked in a very honest, earnest manner with our Republican colleagues. We think that they've been also doing the same," he said. "They adopted a lot of the amendments, most of the amendments that we're we've been adding, and they've been continuing to work with some other Democrats who have some other concerns, but we believe that if all the changes are made, it's going to be a very solid, comprehensive bill that I think we could all be proud to vote for."
In other words, by the end of next week it's possible the House of Representatives will have both a market structure bill to consider, amend and vote on and a stablecoin bill (the House Financial Services Committee version of GENIUS, the STABLE Act, already passed out of that committee a while ago).
Whether both bills will make it to U.S. President Donald Trump's desk by the August recess is an open question. Policymakers in Washington, D.C. this week seemed skeptical that both bills would be passed by that deadline, though stablecoin legislation is likely to clear the House and Senate by then.
One theory flying around is that the GENIUS Act in the Senate might get tagged onto the House's Clarity Act, letting the House vote on both its market structure bill and stablecoin bill at once and sending both back to the Senate. To be clear, this isn't a firm plan, just something various individuals have suggested is a possibility. However, I've heard that there will likely be pushback from both House and Senate lawmakers should this path be pursued.
The other, more likely possibility seems to be that market structure legislation will just take longer — perhaps through the end of the year.
This is despite Democrats' ongoing concerns that Trump is enriching himself through his various crypto ventures. Just this week, Trump's media firm, Truth Social, filed for a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) with Yorkville America and NYSE Arca. Assuming this product is approved, it'll open another avenue for a Trump-affiliated entity to benefit from interest in the industry.
Further reading from this week:
Trump's Crypto Ties at Forefront as U.S. Lawmakers Weigh Crypto Market Structure Bill
Senate Stablecoin Bill Likely to Win Massive Bipartisan Support, Dem Lawmaker Says
House Dems Get Bonus Hearing on Crypto Market Structure, Assail Trump Conflicts
