Voting was full of twists and turns! The U.S. House of Representatives finally passed procedural votes to advance three pieces of encryption legislation, and the Genius Act is expected to be signed th

Author: Weilin, PANews

On July 17 (local time on Wednesday), the U.S. House of Representatives passed a procedural vote on three major cryptocurrency bills, paving the way for voting on the GENIUS Act, the Clarity Act, and the Anti-CBDC Act, which is expected to be voted on again on Thursday local time.

Although July 14 was heralded as "Crypto Week" in the House of Representatives, the actual voting process was full of twists and turns. On Tuesday afternoon local time, the House of Representatives voted 196 to 223 to reject the advancement of three proposals, with 12 Republicans opposing and objecting to the ambiguity of the GENIUS Act on CBDC.

Record-breaking 9-hour voting! 3 bills were finally advanced, with the Genius bill making the fastest progress

The latest vote on July 17 (local time on Wednesday) lasted more than nine hours, setting a record for the longest procedural vote in the House of Representatives. Finally, at about 11 p.m., House Resolution No. 580 passed the review of several bills with a vote of 217 in favor and 212 against. A day earlier, the bill unexpectedly failed to pass the procedural vote of the House of Representatives.

The previous issue was resolved when House Majority Leader Steve Scalise announced that Republicans would attach the CBDC ban to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), ensuring that the CBDC ban would be passed along with the must-pass NDAA, prompting the eight conservative Republicans who had blocked the bill on Tuesday to finally change their vote.

According to PunchBowl News, after the successful vote, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said that the next round of House votes on these cryptocurrency bills will take place on Thursday.

Currently, of the three crypto-related bills, the GENIUS Act is considered to be the fastest moving. The bill aims to establish a regulatory framework for stablecoins and passed a Senate vote last month. The GENIUS Act may be sent to President Trump for signature before the end of this week.

Two other proposals include the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (Clarity Act), which takes a more comprehensive approach to creating a regulatory framework for digital assets, clarifying the regulatory roles of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Lawmakers also voted to consider the Anti-CBDC Bill, which aims to prevent the Federal Reserve from issuing central bank digital currencies directly to individuals. Even if it passes the House vote, the Clarity Act and the Anti-CBDC Bill still need to be voted on in the Senate.

President Trump met with lawmakers in person and made phone calls to urge the legislative process to move forward

According to Politico, a breakthrough in the deadlock on Wednesday came at the last minute of the negotiations, when US President Trump called the office of House Speaker Mike Johnson and expressed satisfaction with the agreement reached.

As early as the morning of July 15th local time, Trump said on the social media Truth Social, "Happy Crypto Week! The House of Representatives will soon vote on a major bill designed to make the United States the undisputed global leader in digital assets," urging members of the House of Representatives to pass a procedural vote.

However, on Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted 196 to 223 to reject a proposal to advance the rule, with 12 Republicans dissenting and taking issue with the ambiguity of the GENIUS Act regarding CBDCs, which in fact contains some provisions that explicitly prohibit the Fed from creating a CBDC.

After the vote failed, Trump quickly summoned the opposing members of Congress to the White House on the evening of July 15 and announced that he had convinced them all to support the measure. On July 16, President Trump posted a message saying that he met with 11 members of the House of Representatives in the Oval Office of the White House on July 15 to discuss the passage of the "GENIUS Act" legislative rules, and unanimously agreed to support the rules the next morning.

The initial vote on Wednesday ended in a dramatic 215 to 211. The result of the vote was not known until the last minute, with a small group of Republicans opposing the rule until a heated exchange with party leaders on the House floor prompted them to change their vote to "yes" at the last minute.

However, these staunchly opposed Republicans subsequently withdrew their support in a second “recorded vote” and left the House floor to negotiate with party leadership on a potential deal to advance the legislation, conditional on a clearer revision of the language on the central bank digital currency (CBDC) ban.

Republican hardliners who blocked the bill's procedural vote pushed to merge the market structure bill, the CLARITY Act, with partisan legislation that would ban central bank digital currencies. Republican Rep. French Hill, the chairman of the Republican Financial Services Committee and the Agriculture Committee, and Rep. GT Thompson, R-Pennsylvania, opposed the plan, fearing that it would weaken Democratic support for the market structure bill.

The GOP rebels dropped their opposition after Republican leaders said they would attach a measure banning CBDCs, a government-issued digital dollar that conservatives argue would open the door to privacy violations, to a must-pass defense authorization bill. The deal was reached after a late-night meeting in the office of House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Trump called in at the last minute and was briefed on the deal, according to two people who attended the meeting and spoke on condition of anonymity. “He was very happy with it,” one of the people said.

At 4 a.m. on July 17, according to two people familiar with the matter, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee is postponing the release of the market structure discussion draft originally scheduled for the next day. Their idea is to wait and observe the movement of the House of Representatives, and then reconsider the introduction of the bill after the situation becomes more "clear."

According to Politico, a vote on the CLARITY Act could be delayed until next week.

It is expected that the GENIUS Act will be sent to President Trump for signature this week and will become the first major cryptocurrency bill passed by Congress, bringing a major lobbying victory for crypto companies.

In general, the House of Representatives' "Crypto Week" has far-reaching significance for the digital asset sector. These bills may not only reshape the landscape of the US crypto industry, but will also set important foundational precedents for the future regulation of digital assets. With the advancement of the bills and the intervention of US President Trump, can the regulatory framework continue to move forward smoothly? Can the US government fulfill its promise of a "crypto capital"? PANews will pay close attention to the follow-up progress.