CryptoLink Newsletter - July 2025 Updates

There was a surge of legislative activity in the digital assets space during the second half of July. On July 17, the House of Representatives passed three significant bills:

1. The GENIUS Act (S. 1582): Establishes a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins.
2. The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act) (H.R. 3633): Sets requirements for digital asset market participants and addresses regulatory gaps.
3. The Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act (H.R. 1919): Prohibits the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) or any substantially similar digital asset.

President Trump signed the GENIUS Act into law the following day. Ahead of the annual August recess, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC), along with Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and Bernie Moreno (R-OH), released a discussion draft of the Responsible Financial Innovation Act on July 22. This draft proposes an alternative approach to classifying digital assets, building on the CLARITY Act to encourage innovation and regulatory clarity. Unlike the CLARITY Act, the draft does not address market structure issues governed by federal commodities laws and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which fall under the jurisdiction of the Senate Agriculture Committee. Chairman Scott plans to continue working on the legislation in the Banking Committee when Congress returns in the fall.

On July 31, 2025, following the release of President Trump’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets' 160-page report, "Recommendations to Strengthen American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology," SEC Chair Paul Atkins unveiled "Project Crypto." This plan aims to integrate crypto into traditional capital markets, with Atkins noting that "most crypto assets are not securities." The CFTC also launched a "Crypto Sprint" to streamline innovation and enforcement in digital asset markets, with a focus on boosting institutional participation by creating clear regulatory pathways for trading spot crypto and futures products. These initiatives signal a significant shift from the enforcement-heavy policies of the Biden administration.