00:05Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be suspended.
00:08Without objection.
00:10Mr. President, on Friday, President Trump signed the first major digital assets bill in American history into law.
00:17The Genius Act opens the door for digital assets to come into the mainstream.
00:22And it sets us up for sustained American leadership in financial innovation.
00:27Thanks to the work of Senators Lummis and Hagerty and Chairman Tim Scott,
00:31the Genius Act will help, as President Trump said,
00:35make America the crypto capital of the world.
00:39Mr. President, the Genius Act creates a first-of-its-kind regulatory framework for stablecoins,
00:45an important part of the digital asset ecosystem.
00:48$250 billion in stablecoins is in circulation today, up 22% just this year.
00:56On an average day, around $100 billion in transactions is executed using stablecoins.
01:02And the vast majority of those stablecoins are backed by the U.S. dollar.
01:07Stablecoins have an important role to play in payments.
01:10While digital asset advocates generally believe in holding Bitcoin
01:14because of its price fluctuations in growth and value over the last several years,
01:19stablecoins offer both the speed and security of the blockchain and the stability and usability of a dollar bill.
01:29And since most stablecoins are backed by the dollar, this represents an opportunity to strengthen the dollar and, by extension, the economy.
01:37Mr. President, when it comes to digital assets, in many ways the future is already here.
01:41The question is whether we welcome that future.
01:45The Genius Act offers an emphatic yes to that question.
01:50After years of stablecoins operating in a legal grey zone,
01:55the Genius Act finally lays out a clear regulatory framework.
02:00That includes consumer protection so Americans can trust who they're doing business with when they purchase stablecoins.
02:08The bill's light touch and tailored standards will provide consumers with confidence while promoting continued innovation right here in the United States.
02:17And its enforcement provisions offer clarity to stablecoin issuers and ensure accountability for violations.
02:23Mr. President, the Genius Act also protects against bad actors using stablecoins for malicious purposes.
02:32It holds stablecoin issuers to the same standard as other financial institutions subject to the Bank Secrecy Act.
02:40That means issuers will need to monitor and report suspicious activity, comply with U.S. sanctions,
02:48and block transactions that violate state and federal law.
02:53Mr. President, what's at stake here became clear last week when the Wall Street Journal reported that China
02:58seems to be concerned about stablecoins solidifying dollar dominance in the global financial system,
03:05spurred in no small part by the Genius Act.
03:09It's clear that the Genius Act is already helping our country secure American leadership in this important space.
03:15We want stablecoins to be made in America.
03:19We want digital assets to take root and to flourish in our country.
03:24We want America to lead in financial innovation.
03:28And the Genius Act will help us get there.
03:32It won't be the last word on digital assets, though.
03:35There's still much more work to be done in this space, including on market structure.
03:40Senators Lummis, Hagerty, and Scott are once again leading on this issue, releasing the Senate's market structure framework today.
03:49And I thank them for their important work.
03:51And I want to say that the next steps on digital assets should look to the Genius Act as a model,
03:58both for its light touch and pro-innovation approach, and for the bipartisanship that characterized the process.
04:06Ms. President, digital assets are the future.
04:10And we're going to continue working to make sure that that future is American-made.
04:16Ms. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
04:20Clerk will call the roll.
04:22Ms. Also Brooks.
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