The U.S. Senate Banking Committee is preparing to vote on the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoin (GENIUS) Act on March 13. This follows several updates made in response to input from Democratic lawmakers.

The Republican-led bill, initially introduced in February by Senator Bill Hagerty, establishes a regulatory framework for stablecoins in the United States.

Hagerty, a co-sponsor of the bill, announced revisions that strengthen consumer protections, define authorized stablecoin issuers, enhance risk mitigation, and detail transparency measures among other updates.

Bipartisan Support for Revised Stablecoin Bill

The revised bill has support from Republican Senators Cynthia Lummis and Tim Scott, along with Democratic Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Angela Alsobrooks. It aims to place U.S. dollar stablecoin issuers, like Tether (USDT) and Circle’s USD Coin (USDC), with market caps above $10 billion under the regulation of the Federal Reserve. Smaller issuers may follow state-level regulations instead.

The changes in the GENIUS Act could give U.S.-based stablecoin issuers an advantage over foreign alternatives. According to Dom Kwok, co-founder of EasyA, foreign issuers may struggle to meet the additional reserve, liquidity, and compliance standards imposed by the bill.

“Most foreign issuers will find these standards hard to meet,” stated Kwok in an X post, emphasizing that the bill could fortify the position of **Circle’s USDC and Ripple Labs’ Ripple USD (RLUSD).

Legal expert Jeremy Hogan, a partner at Hogan & Hogan, likewise remarked that the bill’s provisions seem to favor U.S.-based issuers.

Before becoming law, the GENIUS Act must overcome several obstacles. If it clears the Senate Banking Committee, it will proceed to a full Senate vote for further discussions. Following Senate approval, it will go to the House of Representatives and, if passed there without alterations, will be sent to President Donald Trump for his approval or veto.

MiCA’s Stablecoin Framework in Action

Similarly, the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations regarding stablecoins have been effective since last June. Under these rules, issuers of non-euro stablecoins must halt issuance upon reaching a transaction threshold of one million or a daily valuation of over €200 million (approximately USD 215.2 million).

Recently, stablecoin issuer Circle announced its registration as an electronic money institution in France, securing a vital license as a compliant stablecoin issuer under the new EU regulations.