The United States Senate Banking Committee elected to advance the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act in an 18-6 vote.

None of the amendments proposed by Senator Elizabeth Warren made it into the bill, including her proposal to limit stablecoin issuance to banking institutions.

“Without changes, this bill will supercharge the financing of terrorism. It will make sanctions evasion by Iran, North Korea, and Russia easier,” Warren argued.

Senator Warren argues for amendments to be included in the bill. Source: US Senate Banking Committee GOP

Senator Tim Scott, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, characterized the bill as a victory for innovation. The Senator said:

“The GENIUS Act establishes Common Sense rules that require stablecoin issuers to maintain reserves backed one-to-one, comply with anti-money laundering laws, and ultimately protect American consumers while promoting the US dollar’s strength in the global economy.”

The bill must still pass a vote in both chambers of Congress before it is turned over to President Trump and ultimately signed into law.

However, the Senate Banking Committee advancing the bill represents the first step in clear, comprehensive legislation requested by the crypto industry.

Senator Tim Scott, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, leads the hearing. Source: US Senate Banking Committee GOP

Related: The GENIUS stablecoin bill is a CBDC trojan horse — DeFi exec

GENIUS Act gets overhaul to feature stricter provisions

Senator Bill Hagerty, who introduced the bill in February 2025, defended the legislation against the proposed amendments from Senator Warren, arguing that the bill already includes provisions for consumer protection, Anti-Money Laundering, and crime prevention.

On March 10, Hagerty announced that the bill was updated to include stricter reserve requirements for stablecoin issuers, AML provisions, safeguards against terrorist financing, transparent risk management procedures, and stipulations for sanctions compliance.

According to Dom Kwok, founder of the Web3 learning platform Easy A, the newly added provisions will make it harder for foreign stablecoin issuers to comply, giving US-based firms a competitive edge.

Senator Bill Hagerty defends his bill from proposed amendments. Source: Senate Banking Committee GOP

Attorney Jeremy Hogan said the GENIUS Act signals an impending merger of the traditional financial system with stablecoins.

“The legislation is explicitly making plans for stablecoins to interact with the traditional digital banking system. The ‘merge’ is being planned,” the attorney wrote in a March 10 X post.

During the March 7 White House Crypto Summit, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent explicitly said that the Trump administration would leverage stablecoins to protect the US dollar’s global reserve status.

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