Highlights
Three major crypto bills — GENIUS (stablecoin regulation), CLARITY (digital asset classification), and the Anti-CBDC Act — are being advanced during “Crypto Week,” signaling a serious legislative push to regulate the digital asset space.
With bitcoin hitting an all-time high over $120,000, investor confidence is being buoyed not by hype but by the promise of regulatory clarity — especially around stablecoins and token classification, potentially ending long-standing uncertainty.
U.S. regulatory leadership in crypto could shape international policy and drive mainstream adoption among CFOs and treasury teams.
Bitcoin is at an all-time high, sitting north of $120,000, while U.S. lawmakers have declared the next few days an ambitious legislative sprint they’ve dubbed “Crypto Week.”
No, this isn’t the fever dream of a bitcoin maxi being shared hopefully in a niche crypto forum in 2016. It’s the current state of the digital asset landscape in 2025.
“Huge week ahead — it’s Crypto Week in the House! GENIUS heads to the President’s desk. CLARITY moves to the Senate. Time to make America the Crypto Capital of the World,” tweeted Bo Hines, executive director, President’s Council of Advisers for Digital Assets, on X on Monday (July 14).
On Monday afternoon, what might ultimately be America’s first three pieces of crypto legislation emerged from consideration by the House Rules Committee.
The GENIUS Act, which would regulate stablecoins and require full asset backing, is slated for a vote Thursday (July 17). The CLARITY Act, a sweeping digital market structure overhaul aiming to define when digital tokens are securities or commodities, is set for a Wednesday (July 16) House vote; while the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, which seeks to prevent the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC), is also scheduled for another Wednesday vote.
“The era of digital assets is no longer just a promise; it’s a national priority,” said House Committee on Financial Services Chairman French Hill, R-Ark., and House Committee on Agriculture Chairman G.T. Thompson, R-Pa., in a statement provided to PYMNTS. “We will continue to lead the way towards clear digital asset regulation, and we look forward to putting legislation on President Trump’s desk soon.”
The consideration of these policies could represent the mainstreaming of crypto not just as an asset class, but as a regulated industry within global finance. For CFOs and treasury teams, what’s happening now in Washington could reshape how they approach digital assets.
Read more: 4 Questions CFOs Need to Ask as Wall Street Embraces Stablecoins
The United States has long been a regulatory gray zone for digital assets. But this week, that ambiguity is being put to the test, and potentially to rest.
The GENIUS Act, already passed by the Senate in June with strong bipartisan support, mandates that dollar-backed stablecoins be 100% collateralized with high-quality liquid assets like cash or short-term Treasurys. Monthly reserve disclosures would be mandatory.
The CLARITY Act tackles the industry’s long-running concern with regulatory overreach, particularly by the SEC. It proposes a statutory framework to determine whether a digital asset is a security — placing the burden of oversight on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for most tokens and easing the regulatory uncertainty that has plagued innovators and investors alike.
What makes this moment different from previous crypto hype cycles is the synchronization between legislative structure and market behavior.
In past years, speculative manias were fueled by low-interest rates, crypto Twitter, and unchecked enthusiasm. This time, it’s legislative guardrails that are building investor confidence.
The GENIUS Act provides precisely the kind of clarity stablecoin issuers — and users — have been seeking. By ensuring full reserve backing and monthly transparency, it could open the door to wider enterprise use cases in cross-border payments, merchant services and remittances.
“Thousands and thousands of businesses are already accepting payments in stablecoins, and the next big area of market growth will be stablecoin payouts and disbursements,” Bill Zielke, chief revenue officer at BitPay, told PYMNTS in an interview. “Regulatory clarity [would be] a major boost for U.S.-based merchants, giving them the confidence to accept crypto, reach global customers, and operate on secure, compliant payment rails.”
Meanwhile, the CLARITY Act could finally end the long-running turf war between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and CFTC, which has chilled innovation and made it difficult for token projects to operate legally.
For CFOs and payments professionals, these proposals signal a strategic inflection point: digital assets are no longer fringe. They’re becoming part of the financial mainstream — with real regulatory oversight and operational expectations.
Read also: Are Crypto Markets Going Mainstream? What Treasury Execs Should Know
Crypto Week isn’t just about American policy. Its implications are global.
Regulations in the EU (under MiCA) and Asia have already begun establishing clearer rules. But the U.S., as the world’s largest capital market, plays an outsized role.
If Congress establishes a precedent for crypto legislation that balances innovation with risk, it may encourage other G7 nations to follow suit. If the bills fail or lead to unintended consequences, they could set back the industry worldwide.
Even the most bullish crypto optimists admit: euphoria comes and goes. What lasts are the structures that make progress possible.
“From a treasury perspective, stablecoins are a gateway to fully automate global financial operations. But, the transition is likely to play out as a quiet takeover, versus an overnight disruption,” Vince Tejada, head of treasury and strategic finance at Bastion, told PYMNTS.
Crypto Week is more than a political moment, it may be a turning point for how digital assets integrate into corporate finance and global payments. As regulatory clarity increases, so too does the viability of adopting digital assets as part of a strategic finance or payments modernization plan.
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