Stablecoin bill passed. Which crypto assets will benefit from it?

The sentiment of the crypto market is once again focused on regulatory actions.

On May 19, the U.S. Senate passed the GENIUS Act (the 2025 U.S. Stablecoin Innovation Guidance and Establishment Act) by a vote of 66-32. This milestone marks the imminent implementation of the U.S. stablecoin regulatory framework.

As the first comprehensive U.S. federal stablecoin regulatory bill, the advancement of the GENIUS Act quickly triggered a heated response in the crypto market, and the DeFi and RWA sectors related to stablecoins led the market today.

Will the GENIUS Act become a catalyst for a new round of bull market?

According to Citibank's forecast, by 2030, the global stablecoin market is expected to reach 1.6 to 3.7 trillion US dollars, and the passage of the bill has given more "compliance" to the qualitative and development space of stablecoins, and traditional companies have a more reasonable reason to enter.

The market is also expecting that the entry of incremental funds will bring "flooding" and inject new liquidity into related encrypted assets.

But before that, you should at least understand what the bill actually contains and the legislative motivation behind it, so as to provide a more convincing reason for selecting relevant crypto assets.

From "Wild Growth" to Standardization

GENIUS Act, literally translated as "Genius Act", is actually the abbreviation of "Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act of 2025".

In layman's terms, it is a legislative document of the United States.

The reason why the market is paying attention is that it is the first comprehensive federal regulatory bill for stablecoins in the history of the United States. Prior to this, stablecoins and cryptocurrencies have always been in a delicate gray area:

You can do it unless the law prohibits it, but there are no clear rules in the law to tell you "how to do it".

The goal of the GENIUS Act is to provide legitimacy and security to the stablecoin market through a clear regulatory framework, while consolidating the dollar's dominant position in digital finance.

To sum up, the key contents of the bill include:

• Reserve requirements: Stablecoin issuers must be 100% backed by reserves, and the reserve assets must be highly liquid assets such as US dollars and short-term US Treasury bonds, and the reserve composition must be disclosed monthly.

• Regulatory levels: Large issuers with a market value of more than $10 billion (such as Tether and Circle) must be directly regulated by the Federal Reserve System or the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and small issuers can be regulated by the state.

• Transparency and compliance: Misleading marketing (such as claiming that stablecoins are guaranteed by the US government) is prohibited, and issuers are required to comply with anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) regulations. Issuers with a market value of more than $50 billion are required to audit their financial statements annually to ensure transparency.

This means that the United States is actually friendly to stablecoins, but the premise is that stablecoins must be reserved in US dollars and must meet the requirements of openness and transparency.

Looking back at history, the birth of the GENIUS Act was not achieved overnight, but is the culmination of the United States' exploration of stablecoin regulation over the years. We also quickly sorted out the full timeline of this bill to help you quickly understand the background and motivation of the bill:

The stablecoin market is developing rapidly, but the risks caused by the lack of supervision are becoming increasingly prominent. For example, the collapse of the algorithmic stablecoin UST in 2022 highlights the need for clear supervision.

As early as 2023, the House Financial Services Committee proposed the STABLE Act, attempting to establish a regulatory framework for stablecoins, but it failed to pass the Senate due to bipartisan differences;

On February 4, 2025, Senator Bill Hagerty, together with bipartisan members such as Kirsten Gillibrand and Cynthia Lummis, formally proposed the GENIUS Act, aiming to balance innovation and regulation. On March 13, the bill passed the Senate Banking Committee with a vote of 18-6, showing strong bipartisan support.

However, the first full vote on May 8 failed because it did not reach the 60-vote threshold (48-49). Some Democratic members (such as Elizabeth Warren) were worried that the bill might benefit the Trump family's crypto projects (such as the USD1 stablecoin), believing that there was a conflict of interest.

After revisions, the bill added restrictive clauses on big tech companies, eliminated the concerns of some members about conflicts of interest, and finally passed a procedural vote by 66-32 votes on May 19, and is expected to pass a full vote of the Senate by a simple majority soon.

So, what is the significance of legislation going this far?

First, the market wants a certainty. The vote on the bill basically marks the transition of the US stablecoin market from "wild growth" to standardization, filling a long-term regulatory gap and providing certainty for the market.

Secondly, it is clear that the position of the US dollar will be consolidated through stablecoins, especially under the competitive pressure of China's digital RMB and the EU MiCA regulations.

Finally, the advancement of the GENIUS Act may pave the way for broader crypto market legislation (such as the Market Structure Act), promote the integration of the crypto industry and traditional finance, and provide a legal basis for your expansion.

Stakeholders of Crypto Assets

The core provisions of the GENIUS Act directly affect the stablecoin ecosystem and affect the entire crypto market through a chain reaction. This regulatory framework will not only reshape the stablecoin industry, but will also affect multiple crypto tracks such as DeFi, Layer 1 blockchain, and RWA through the widespread use of stablecoins.

However, projects in some tracks do not fully meet the regulatory requirements of the Act. If the Act is to be regarded as a benefit, corresponding adjustments need to be made in product design and business.

We have sorted out some of the larger projects and listed the benefits and adjustment points as follows.

1. Centralized stablecoin issuers:

The reserve requirements of the bill (100% liquid assets, need to hold US Treasuries) and transparency regulations (such as monthly disclosure) are most favorable to centralized stablecoins. These stablecoins have basically met the requirements, and clear supervision will attract more institutional funds to enter the market and expand their use in trading and payment.

$USDT (Tether): USDT is the largest stablecoin by market value (market value of about $130 billion in 2025), and about 60% of its reserves are U.S. short-term Treasury bonds (about $78 billion) and 40% are cash and cash equivalents (data source: Tether's first quarter 2025 transparency report).

The GENIUS Act requires that reserve assets be mainly U.S. Treasury bonds, which Tether has fully complied with, and its transparency measures (such as quarterly audits) also meet the requirements of the Act. However, the point is that the use of USDT has always been part of the gray industry (such as electronic fraud), and how to adjust the business to adapt to regulation is the next issue to consider.

$USDC (Circle): USDC has a market value of approximately $60 billion, 80% of its reserves are short-term U.S. Treasury bonds (approximately $48 billion), and 20% are cash (data source: Circle's May 2025 monthly report). Circle has registered in the United States and actively cooperates with supervision (such as applying for an IPO in 2024), and its reserves fully comply with the requirements of the bill. The passage of the bill may make USDC the preferred stablecoin for institutions, especially in the DeFi field (USDC accounts for 30% of DeFi in 2025), and its market share is expected to increase further.

1. Decentralized Stablecoins:

$MKR (MakerDAO, issuingDAI): DAI is the largest decentralized stablecoin (market value of about $9 billion), issued by over-collateralized crypto assets (such as ETH), and about 10% of its current reserves are U.S. Treasuries (about $900 million), mainly collateralized by crypto assets (data source: MakerDAO May 2025 report).

The strict requirements of the GENIUS Act on reserve assets may pose a challenge to DAI, but if MakerDAO increases the proportion of U.S. Treasury reserves, it can benefit from the overall market growth. $MKR holders may benefit from the increased use of DAI (the annual revenue of the MakerDAO protocol is about $200 million in 2025).

$FXS (Frax Finance, issuing FRAX): FRAX has a market value of approximately $2 billion and uses a partial algorithmic mechanism (50% collateral, 50% algorithmic), with approximately 15% of its collateral assets being US Treasuries (approximately $300 million). If Frax adjusts to a full collateral model and increases the proportion of US Treasuries, it can benefit from market expansion, but its algorithmic mechanism may face regulatory pressure because the bill does not protect algorithmic stablecoins.

$ENA (Ethena Labs, issuing USDe): USDe has a market value of approximately $1.4 billion and is issued through ETH hedging and yield strategies, with only 5% of its reserves being US Treasuries (approximately $70 million).

Its strategy may need to be significantly adjusted to comply with the bill, and if successful, it can benefit from market growth, but there are also risks.

1. DeFiTrading/Lending

$CRV (Curve Finance):Curve focuses on stablecoin trading (TVL of about $2 billion in 2025), and 70% of its liquidity pool is stablecoin trading pairs (such as USDT/USDC).

The increase in stablecoin usage driven by the GENIUS Act will directly increase Curve's trading volume (current daily average trading volume is about $300 million), and $CRV holders can benefit from trading fees (annualized yield of about 5%) and governance rights. If the stablecoin market continues to grow according to Citi's forecast, Curve's TVL may increase by another 20% at the same time.

$UNI (Uniswap): Uniswap is a general-purpose DEX (TVL of about $5 billion in 2025), and stablecoin trading pairs (such as USDC/ETH) account for 30% of its liquidity. The increase in stablecoin trading activity brought about by the bill will indirectly benefit Uniswap, but its benefit will be lower than Curve (because its business is more decentralized), and $UNI holders can benefit through transaction fees (about 3% annualized).

$AAVE (Aave): Aave is the largest lending protocol (TVL of about $10 billion in 2025), and stablecoins (such as USDC, DAI) account for about 40% of its lending pool.

The passage of the bill will attract more users to use stablecoins for lending (such as mortgaging USDC to borrow ETH), and Aave's deposits and borrowing volume may grow further (based on current trends). $AAVE holders benefit from protocol revenue (annual revenue of approximately US$150 million in 2025) and increased token value.

$COMP (Compound): Compound's TVL is approximately US$3 billion, with stablecoin lending accounting for approximately 35%. Similar to Aave, an increase in stablecoin lending will benefit Compound, but its market share and innovation speed are lower than Aave, and the potential increase in $COMP may be relatively small.

1. Yield Protocol

$PENDLE (Pendle): Pendle focuses on yield tokenization (TVL of approximately $500 million in 2025), and stablecoins are often used in its yield strategy (such as the USDC yield pool, with a current annualized yield of approximately 3%). The growth of the stablecoin market driven by the bill will increase Pendle's yield opportunities (such as the yield may rise to 5%), and $PENDLE holders may benefit from the growth of protocol revenue (annual revenue of approximately $30 million in 2025).

1. Layer1

$ETH（Ethereum）： Ethereum hosts 90% of stablecoins and DeFi activities (DeFi TVL exceeds $100 billion in 2025). The increase in the use of stablecoins driven by the bill will increase Ethereum's on-chain transaction volume (currently Gas fee annual revenue is about $2 billion), and the value of $ETH may rise due to increased demand.

$TRX（Tron）： Tron is an important network for the circulation of stablecoins. Public data shows that the circulation of USDT on the Tron chain will be about $60 billion in 2025, accounting for 46% of the total USDT; the increase in the use of stablecoins driven by the bill may increase Tron's on-chain activities.

$SOL (Solana): Solana has become an important platform for stablecoins and DeFi due to its high throughput and low cost (TVL of about $8 billion in 2025, and USDC circulation on the chain of about $5 billion). The increase in the use of stablecoins will drive Solana's DeFi activities (current daily average trading volume of about $1 billion), and $SOL may benefit from the increase in on-chain activity.

$SUI (Sui): Sui is an emerging Layer 1 (TVL of about $1 billion in 2025) that supports stablecoin-related applications (such as Thala's stablecoins and DEX). The growth of the stablecoin ecosystem driven by the bill will attract more projects to deploy on Sui, and $SUI may benefit from the increase in ecological activity (current daily average active users of about 500,000).

$APT（Aptos）： Aptos is also an emerging Layer 1 (TVL of about $800 million in 2025), and its ecosystem supports stablecoin payments. The increase in the circulation of stablecoins will promote the payment and DeFi applications of Aptos, and $APT may benefit from the growth of users.

1. Payment Track

$XRP（Ripple）： XRP focuses on cross-border payments (average daily transaction volume of about $2 billion in 2025), and its low cost and high efficiency can complement stablecoins. The increase in cross-border payment demand for stablecoins driven by the bill (such as USDC for international settlement) will indirectly enhance the use cases of XRP (such as as a bridge currency), and $XRP may benefit from the increase in payment demand.

$XLM(Stellar): Stellar also focuses on cross-border payments (average daily transaction volume of about $500 million in 2025), and has worked with IBM to launch the World Wire project, using stablecoins as bridge assets.

1. Oracle

$LINK + $PYTH:Oracles provide price data for stablecoins and DeFi. The expansion of the stablecoin market driven by the bill will increase DeFi's demand for real-time price data, and the amount of on-chain data calls may increase.

But this is more like an extension of the logic of a positive sector, rather than a completely strong correlation.

1. RWA

$ONDO (Ondo Finance): Focusing on tokenizing fixed-income assets such as U.S. Treasuries, its flagship product USDY (stable income tokens backed by U.S. Treasuries) has been issued on chains such as Solana and Ethereum (USDY circulation will be approximately $500 million in 2025). The GENIUS Act requires stablecoin reserves to hold U.S. Treasuries, which is directly beneficial to Ondo's U.S. Treasuries tokenization business. USDY may become one of the preferred reserve assets for stablecoin issuers. In addition, the increase in the circulation of stablecoins will drive retail investors and institutions to purchase USDY through USDC, and Ondo's demand for asset tokenization may increase, and $ONDO holders will benefit.

The U.S. dollar, a bigger conspiracy

The United States' promotion of stablecoin legislation can also be regarded as a "conspiracy".

On the one hand, the United States hopes for a weak dollar policy to increase exports, but on the other hand, it does not want to give up the dollar's position as a global currency.

By supporting the development of stablecoins, the United States has extended the global influence of the dollar in a digital way without increasing the Federal Reserve's liabilities - currently 99% of stablecoins are pegged to the dollar.

At the same time, the regulatory requirements that stablecoins must hold U.S. short-term Treasury bonds as reserves have cleverly found new buyers for U.S. debt, just as the scale of U.S. debt held by Tether has surpassed many developed countries.

This policy not only maintains the global dominance of the dollar, but also finds reliable buyers for the huge U.S. debt, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

The passage of the GENIUS Act is undoubtedly a milestone in the crypto market. Through the binding of stablecoins and U.S. debt, it provides a new path for the continuation of the U.S. dollar hegemony and promotes the overall prosperity of the crypto ecosystem.

However, this "conspiracy" is also a double-edged sword - while bringing opportunities, its high dependence on US debt, the potential suppression of DeFi innovation and the uncertainty of global competition may become hidden dangers in the future.

However, uncertainty is always a step forward for the crypto market.

Risks can be uncertain, but participants are waiting for a certain bull market to come.