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French Hill, chairman of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, stated that the CLARITY Act is expected to address some regulatory issues not covered by the GENIUS Act.In an interview, Hill mentioned that the banking industry still has concerns about the proposed cryptocurrency regulatory framework, particularly regarding the regulatory treatment that future crypto companies may face. Hill pointed out that the House passed the CLARITY Act last summer with bipartisan support, including 78 Democratic votes in favor. The bill is part of Washington's push to establish a regulatory framework for digital assets, aiming to clarify how stablecoins and other digital assets operate in the U.S. financial markets. Additionally, policymakers are discussing whether crypto companies should be subject to the same level of regulation as banks. Hill stated that both parties have reached a consensus on a key principle: stablecoins should not pay interest to holders, which is also a central topic of discussion surrounding the GENIUS Act.

FDIC Chairman Travis Hill stated at the American Bankers Association Washington Summit that the FDIC plans to propose a rule clarifying that payment stablecoins governed by the GENIUS Act do not qualify for "pass-through insurance," meaning that third-party financial institutions cannot obtain government deposit protection on behalf of users.Hill noted that this position aligns with the legislative intent of the GENIUS Act, even though the act does not explicitly prohibit such arrangements. Hill pointed out that current pass-through insurance rules require the identity and rights of end customers to be verifiable through standard processes, which is not a common feature of large stablecoin arrangements. Although stablecoins do not enjoy FDIC insurance, the GENIUS Act mandates that they must be fully reserved.Additionally, Hill mentioned that the FDIC is considering the positioning of tokenized deposits, suggesting that regardless of the technology or accounting method used, tokenized deposits should be treated as deposits and enjoy the same regulatory and deposit insurance treatment as non-tokenized deposits.White House crypto advisor Patrick Witt has been continuously defending the CLARITY Act on the X platform, stating that attempts to turn it into an anti-competitive bill are undesirable. Jefferies analysts noted this week that the growth of stablecoins could lead to a 3% to 5% loss of core bank deposits over the next five years.

The U.S. President Trump stated that the GENIUS Act, which provides a regulatory framework for stablecoin issuance, is currently being threatened and undermined by the banking industry. He posted on Truth Social that banks are trying to influence the legislative process and urged Congress to expedite the advancement of the crypto market structure bill.Trump stated, "The U.S. must complete market structure legislation as soon as possible. Americans should allow their funds to earn higher returns." He also criticized the banking industry for trying to obstruct the government-driven crypto policy agenda while posting record profits, warning that if the regulatory framework is not clarified soon, the U.S. advantage in the crypto space may shift to countries like China.It is reported that the banking industry has consistently pushed for amendments to the provisions regarding stablecoin yields in the GENIUS Act. Some lobbyists believe that allowing stablecoins to offer yields could attract bank deposits away from the traditional banking system. In response, Trump stated that banks should not attempt to undermine the GENIUS Act, nor should they leverage this to hinder the advancement of the CLARITY Act. He called for the banking industry to reach a reasonable compromise with the crypto industry to align with the overall interests of the American public.

Nasdaq-listed company Antelope Enterprise Holdings Limited (AEHL) announced that it has officially launched the digital asset allocation "Genius Plan" and completed its first purchase of $1 million in BTC. This plan will gradually build a structured holding system through a phased accumulation approach, aiming to establish a Bitcoin allocation and capital circulation framework. It seeks to buy the dip during market downturns and when investor sentiment quickly turns to fear, exploring a new model of crypto equity linkage between Wall Street capital and the digital asset ecosystem.

According to a post by The Block reporter Sarah Wynn, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee's hearing on banking regulators has just begun.Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman stated in her prepared testimony that the central bank is committed to implementing the stablecoin legislation GENIUS and plans to "provide clarity on how digital assets are handled to ensure that the banking system can effectively support digital asset activities."Bowman said, "As regulators, my responsibility is to encourage innovation in a responsible manner, and we must continuously enhance our ability to supervise the risks that innovation may pose to safety and soundness."

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has issued proposed rules to establish regulatory requirements for "permitted payment stablecoin issuers" and foreign issuers, as well as certain custodial services within its jurisdiction; provisions related to BSA/AML and OFAC sanctions will be separately regulated by the Treasury Department. The public comment period will close 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Bloomberg Intelligence indicates that Coinbase is actively lobbying in Washington to retain its key stablecoin revenue source. According to BI analysts Paul Gulberg and Samuel Radowitz, if payment adoption accelerates, Coinbase's stablecoin revenue is expected to grow two to seven times under the framework of the GENIUS Act signed by President Trump in July 2025.Currently, the act prohibits stablecoin issuers from paying interest or yields to holders, and the legislative draft under negotiation may further prohibit exchanges from offering rewards linked to stablecoin balances. This could impact the profits Coinbase derives from its revenue-sharing agreement with Circle for USDC.Coinbase's stablecoin revenue in 2025 is projected to be $1.35 billion, accounting for 19% of its total revenue. CEO Brian Armstrong stated last week that a "path forward" has been found, and even if the payment of yields to customers is prohibited, the company can still retain economic benefits from Circle, thereby improving profit margins.

According to The Block, the GENIUS money market ETF launched by ProShares (ticker: IQMM) achieved a historic trading volume of $17 billion on its first trading day, far exceeding the $1 billion debut of the BlackRock Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) launched in 2024.This ETF is designed specifically for holding assets that meet the U.S. stablecoin reserve requirements and fully complies with the GENIUS Act signed last year, which mandates that stablecoin issuers must back their tokens with safe, highly liquid assets such as U.S. Treasury securities on a 1:1 basis. Analysts speculate that most of the funds may come from the stablecoin issuer Circle.

According to CoinDesk, at the Consensus Hong Kong conference, Sui executives Stephen Mackintosh and Evan Cheng stated that 2025 will be a "watershed year" for institutional crypto adoption, as the introduction of the "Genius Act" has significantly increased institutions' understanding and demand for crypto assets.Mackintosh pointed out that the surge in Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) tools, the successful issuance of spot Bitcoin ETFs, and the entry of large trading firms like Citadel and Jane Street all indicate that institutions are accelerating their investments in crypto infrastructure and talent. He noted that even though market sentiment may weaken temporarily, options trading volume has reached record levels, and the structural growth trend remains unchanged, stating that "institutional demand has never been stronger."Cheng emphasized that traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi) will move towards integration rather than competition in the future. He pointed out that traditional products often have a "T+1" or longer settlement period, while DeFi offers "T+0" instant settlement, providing a clear efficiency advantage. Through asset tokenization, investors can immediately engage in collateralized lending after acquiring assets, thereby layering DeFi strategies on top of traditional exposures.Both executives also stated that tokenization and "agentic commerce" (AI-driven on-chain transactions) will become key focus areas in the next phase.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, along with four local district attorneys in the state, recently sent a letter to several Democratic lawmakers criticizing the "GENIUS Stablecoin Act," which was signed into law by Trump last year, for significant flaws in consumer protection, particularly its failure to require stablecoin issuers to return stolen funds in the event of theft.The letter specifically names Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC), arguing that the two major stablecoin issuers can still earn interest on related assets after funds are stolen, while victims lack effective recourse. New York prosecutors pointed out that although the act grants stablecoins greater "legitimacy endorsement," it does not simultaneously strengthen key regulatory requirements such as anti-terror financing, anti-money laundering, and prevention of crypto fraud. The GENIUS Act is currently entering the implementation phase, requiring stablecoins to be fully backed by U.S. dollars or highly liquid assets and mandating annual audits for issuers with a market capitalization exceeding $50 billion. However, New York prosecutors believe these measures are still insufficient to address the widespread use of stablecoins in illegal fund transfers.According to Chainalysis data, approximately 84% of illegal crypto transaction volume will involve stablecoins by 2025, prompting New York to call for further strengthening of the regulatory framework to better protect consumer rights.

According to Bloomberg, Fidelity will launch a stablecoin FIDD that complies with the GENIUS standard on Ethereum.Fidelity Digital Dollar (FIDD) will be issued by the Fidelity Digital Assets, National Association. This association is a national trust bank that received a conditional operating license from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency last year.

According to Bloomberg, Fidelity will launch a stablecoin FIDD that complies with the GENIUS standard on Ethereum.Fidelity Digital Dollar (FIDD) will be issued by the Fidelity Digital Assets, National Association. This association is a national trust bank that received a conditional operating license from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency last December.

The Perp DEX trading terminal Genius, supported by YZi Labs, has released the official airdrop and points whitepaper. The first season will end on April 12, 2026, and the GENIUS token will be created before April 12, 2026. The airdrop allocation amount will be increased by 50%, and the value corresponding to each point will also be increased by 50%.From now until April 12, 10 million GP will be distributed weekly. GP is retrospectively allocated and is only distributed based on spot trading volume. The value of GP earned through trading volume remains unchanged.

Announcement from the Perp DEX trading terminal Genius, supported by YZi Labs, states that Genius dynamic points will be suspended from 7:30 PM Eastern Time on Saturday, January 17, 2026, transitioning to a retroactive points system, with specific information to be announced soon. All points earned through trading will remain in user accounts.The first round of the retroactive event will start at 4 PM on January 19, with the airdrop whitepaper released today.On January 13, YZi Labs, co-founded by Binance co-founder Zhao Changpeng (CZ) and He Yi, made a multi-million dollar investment in Genius Trading, with Zhao Changpeng also joining the project as an advisor.Genius is committed to building a privacy-first on-chain trading platform, offering spot trading, perpetual contracts, and copy trading, aiming to become the decentralized version of "Binance." The platform has processed over $60 million in trading volume during its testing phase and plans to launch a public privacy protocol test in Q2 2026.

Genius announced on the X platform that, in response to community feedback regarding platform trading issues, several vulnerabilities have been fixed, including:Significant reduction in Gas fees: Fixed the issue of overestimation of Gas limits on-chain due to EIP-1559 and the problem of maxPriorityFeePerGas being set too high;Optimized BNB cross-chain exchange: Added a small Gas buffer to prevent transaction failures due to insufficient Gas, while not significantly increasing Gas fees;Fixed the cross-chain transaction fee sponsorship issue using EIP-7702: Updated the process to correctly execute cross-chain transactions sponsored by third parties (no longer experiencing issues from the old version).

Several Bitcoin advocacy organizations, including the Bitcoin Policy Institute, recently sent a joint letter to the leaders of the U.S. Congress's tax committee, urging them to expand the minimum exemption scope to include Bitcoin and major network tokens, not just stablecoins.The coalition proposed to treat stablecoins that meet the GENIUS standards like cash, while setting a market cap threshold of $25 billion for eligible network tokens to determine which network tokens qualify for the exemption, along with a single transaction limit of $600 and an annual cap of $20,000.