President Donald Trump hosted a triumphant event in the East Room of the White House this week to mark the passage of the GENIUS Act, a sweeping legislative package aimed at redefining America’s role in the global digital asset economy. The bill represents the most comprehensive crypto-related reform ever passed at the federal level, and Trump used the occasion to double down on his administration’s promise to make the U.S. the world’s undisputed leader in blockchain innovation, financial technology, and digital currency infrastructure.
“This is about taking control of our future,” Trump told an energized crowd of tech entrepreneurs, lawmakers, and financial leaders. “We’re not going to let other countries dominate this space. We are leading the revolution.”
The GENIUS Act introduces robust regulatory standards for stablecoins—a key piece of the crypto economy that had long operated in legal gray areas. Stablecoins are digital tokens typically pegged to fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar and are commonly used by traders to move money between different cryptocurrencies. Under the new law, all stablecoin issuers must back their tokens with highly liquid assets, such as U.S. dollars or short-term Treasury bills, and must disclose their reserve holdings publicly every month.
“This bill brings much-needed clarity,” said Andrew Olmem, former deputy director of the National Economic Council and now managing partner at Mayer Brown. “It’s a major milestone. For the first time, we have a framework that gives users, developers, and institutions a predictable legal environment to operate in.”
The legislation comes after years of tension between regulators and the crypto community. Developers and exchanges had repeatedly criticized what they described as a hostile regulatory approach—one that stifled innovation and chased investment offshore. Trump’s administration has positioned itself as a course correction to that era.
The GENIUS Act was shaped in part by collaboration between Trump’s economic team and leaders from the crypto industry. Several of those figures were in attendance at the signing ceremony, including Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, Dave Ripley of Kraken, Brian Armstrong of Coinbase, Paolo Ardoino of Tether, Jeremy Allaire of Circle, and Gemini Exchange co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.
Tenev praised the White House for engaging constructively with the industry. “There’s still room for improvement, of course,” he said. “But this legislation shows a strong willingness to partner with the private sector. It’s a great start.”
The industry has reason to be optimistic. Trump emphasized the strategic importance of creating a “secure and dynamic” digital finance infrastructure and reiterated his commitment to cutting red tape and encouraging entrepreneurship. “We are not regulating innovation out of existence,” he declared. “We are empowering it.”
Bo Hines, who chairs the president’s Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, said that the administration’s goal is to finalize a full set of crypto-related reforms by the end of the summer. “Stablecoins are just the beginning,” Hines said. “We’re building a financial ecosystem that reflects the 21st century.”
Trump also took the opportunity to reflect on his trailblazing 2024 campaign, reminding attendees that he was the first presidential candidate in history to address the Bitcoin Conference. “When I showed up, it sent a message: this is serious, and we’re here to win,” he said.
Then, near the end of his speech, Trump dropped the line that drew some of the loudest applause of the afternoon.
“I remember saying this on the campaign trail. Just a line in the speech. I said it—and the crowd went crazy. We said we would fire Joe Biden’s SEC Chair, Gary Gensler,” Trump said, pausing as the crowd erupted. “And we did. We fired him.”
He continued, “I didn’t even know how much people disliked this guy at first. But as I learned more about what he was doing to your industry, it made total sense. People were being held back. Innovation was being blocked. That’s over now.”
Gensler, a longtime subject of criticism from crypto advocates, had been viewed as a key figure in what many in the industry called the Biden administration’s “war on digital assets.” His removal, quietly enacted earlier this year, signaled a dramatic shift in tone from confrontation to cooperation.
📹 Watch the video below of Trump’s remarks about Gensler and the crowd’s reaction:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/WLmJFssJnoo
With the GENIUS Act now signed and momentum building behind additional reforms, crypto leaders say the U.S. finally has a chance to reclaim ground lost to other nations over the past decade. And based on the energy in the East Room, they believe that the Trump administration intends to deliver.
As Trump concluded his remarks, he left no doubt about his administration’s position: “We don’t fear the future. We shape it.”
