Hi! Ed here.

Last week, Congress and President Donald Trump passed first US crypto law of its kind. Now come the questions.

Right at the top of the list: How will the Genius Act change the digital assets market, and for that matter, finance in general? 

At first glance, it’s safe to say that Washington’s newly minted stablecoin regime will reshape the crypto industry by opening the door to banks and other financial firms that wanted regulatory clarity before plying customers with blockchain-related products.

This means payments, the lifeblood of the global economy, is ready for change.

There is a lot of excitement around this prospect. Over the weekend Mastercard said the US had reached a “turning point” in its adoption of blockchain technology for payments processing. 

As DL News has reported, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup are poised to integrate US dollar-backed stablecoins into their product offerings and payment systems. 

If stablecoins are to be a game changer in payments they have to be largely invisible. 

In other words, stablecoins should be as seamless as Apple Pay or Venmo or Revolut — utility-like applications we use in our daily lives.

This isn’t just a technical challenge. It’s also a regulatory and consumer behaviour project as well. 

For starters, stablecoin issuers will have to win over ordinary consumers. That may be challenging considering that stablecoin issuers, unlike banks, are barred from paying interest to accountholders, according to analysis by Gibson Dunn, a global law firm.

So why would ordinary US consumers bother with a stablecoin at all? What’s the advantage?

The answer is fuzzy unless consumers can use them with no fuss. This is where the banks come in. 

As much as consumers complain about their lenders, they do trust them. If a bank integrates a stablecoin-based payments app, chances are accountholders will respond. 

While the US banking industry has been wary about the potential instability stablecoins may pose to the financial system, they’re sitting in a very strong position to popularise the issuance of these instruments, at least as far as payments are concerned. 

That’s because every stablecoin in the US must now be offered by a “permitted payment stablecoin issuer” supervised by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. 

For crypto startups, getting regulatory approval, even in the Trump era, is a time consuming, costly task. For banks, it’s easy — they are already regulated by the OCC and other agencies.

The upshot: banks, the bête noire of the crypto world, are ready to write the next act of the Genius Act.

ICYMI

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  A federal judge handed Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm a partial victory last Friday, allowing his attorneys and witnesses to discuss the importance of privacy during the remainder of his criminal trial.

• UK’s seized Bitcoin stash could get sold off to ease budget deficits

  Britain’s new Chancellor is sitting on a digital goldmine, and she’s considering cashing it in. Rachel Reeves is weighing the sale of billions in seized Bitcoin to help plug a growing hole in the UK’s public finances, according to The Telegraph.

• Cybercriminals are about to steal more crypto in 2025 than ever before, says Chainalysis

  Digital thugs are on pace to steal more from crypto services than ever before in 2025, says crypto security firm Chainalysis in its 2025 mid-year crypto crime update report.

Story of the Week

Robert Leshner takes investors on ‘crazy ride’ that ends with a new crypto treasury company and heavy losses

When Robert Leshner announced last Monday he had bought a controlling stake in a tiny liquor advertising company, nobody knew what he was up to.

The decentralised finance guru, who has 129,000 followers on X, said he planned to replace the firm’s board and help it “explore new strategies.”

But doing so turned out to be easier said than done.

Post of the Week

Last week President Donald Trump signed and hailed a landmark piece of stablecoin legislation, the Genius Act, as a ‘giant step to cement American dominance of global finance and crypto technology.’

DL News is an independent news organisation that provides original, in-depth reporting on the largely misunderstood world of cryptocurrency and decentralised finance. From original stories to investigations, our journalism is accurate, honest and responsible.

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