U.S. crypto investors moved a step closer to getting more regulatory clarity after the House of Representatives voted to advance three pieces of crypto-related legislation on Thursday, with one of them expected to be singed into law soon.
Since the Genius Act, a bill aimed at regulating stablecoins, already passed by the Senate, the House vote now sends the bill to the executive branch to sign into law. Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency whose value is pegged to another asset, often the U.S. dollar.
The Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, as well as the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025, still need to be voted on by the Senate.
Last year, President Donald Trump promised to be an ally to the crypto industry during his campaign, and crypto markets jumped after he won the election. While crypto investors have been waiting for the Trump administration to provide tangible updates as to how crypto is regulated, the three new bills may provide just that.
The Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act prohibits the Federal Reserve from issuing its own digital currency, arguing that doing so could allow the central bank to track how people use its crypto. The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 aims to differentiate what counts as a digital commodity versus investment, as well as to delegate what gets regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission versus the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
"For the 55 million Americans who own and use crypto, three quarters of them believe it's important for this country to have smart crypto laws and regulations," Stu Alderoty, president of the National Cryptocurrency Association, told MarketWatch.
Alderoty said that clear regulations could help protect the people who use crypto and potentially build trust among those who don't.
"Any legislation that is premised on transparency, disclosure, accountability and auditability provides the core consumer protections that anybody who wants to engage in the crypto economy should be entitled to," he said.
But not everyone sees a big win for the crypto industry. "Markets shouldn't fall for crypto industry generated hype: crypto has no Washington momentum," said Terry Haines, founder of Pangaea Policy, a forecasting firm, noting that stands even if stablecoin legislation becomes law later this week.
"This is the end of crypto's wins for quite awhile - and the only one," Haines wrote in emailed comments. "Crypto interested investors get at most a short sugar high that dissipates quickly once reality sets in."
The House was scheduled to vote on the three bills on Tuesday, but those plans hit a snag due to a failed procedural vote. The House reconvened on Wednesday and voted to reconsider the bills, and then passed the bills Thursday afternoon.
U.S. versus E.U.
According to Przemyslaw Kral, the chief executive of European crypto exchange zondacrypto, these regulations bring the U.S. crypto industry closer to other crypto markets in some ways, but there are also some key distinctions.
"These draft laws are comparable to Europe's MiCA regulation, particularly regarding CBDC. This legislation is significant as it shifts the approach: Trump and Republicans advocate for private market development in crypto, rather than central bank-issued digital currencies," Kral wrote in an email. "The goal is a balance between central bank control and private sector innovation. This differs from most central banks, which seek to regulate and control digital money."
Kral noted that a few years ago crypto regulations used to be viewed as stifling by some investors. Now, there's been a shift where regulation is seen as necessary to bring legitimacy to crypto markets. Some investors see regulation as bullish for the crypto industry.
"Regulation in crypto is primarily about protecting consumers, but it serves many other purposes. It brings trust and stability, and that's what large institutions were waiting for. ETFs showed what happens when the rules are clear, big players start entering the market," Kral said.
A long road
As Kral referenced, the public debut of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds in early 2024 that helped bring a lot more investors - both institutional and retail - into crypto markets. Bitcoin ETFs like BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust IBIT saw a spike in inflows leading into bitcoin's most recent all-time high.
Crypto enthusiasts may be encouraged by the fact that the U.S. government is seriously engaging with crypto through this batch of legislation, but some think that the legislation could go even further with adopting these technologies.
"We need to shift this conversation from just 'who regulates what' to 'how do we best regulate using the technology itself?'" Bryan Daugherty, global public policy director at blockchain nonprofit BSV Association, told MarketWatch. "That means the requirement for technical standards for on chain disclosures, real-time auditing, immutable metadata tools."
Daugherty said that the Clarity Act is just the start of regulating the digital assets space, but what comes next is making sure legislation leans into using blockchain technology to provide better consumer protection. That could provide a more tangible change to the financial industry as a whole.
