WASHINGTON—Today, United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) spoke at the weekly Senate Republican Leadership Press Conference on the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, a historic piece of legislation that establishes a clear regulatory framework for payment stablecoins.
Full Remarks:
Senator Hagerty: Thank you, Leader Thune. And I would like to say to everyone, I look forward to making history, hopefully this week, as we continue to make progress on the Genius Act.
What does it do? I think it’s very important to understand this. We’re modernizing the payment system here in America. We’re going to put America at the forefront of innovation, rather than having America behind is the caboose.
This is a dramatic new technology innovation [that] is happening here in America. I don’t want to see it pushed offshore. I want to see it happening right here.
The implications of this are incredible in terms of protecting consumers. Today, it’s an unregulated market. What we’ll do is make certain that everyone knows that stablecoins are backed by U.S. dollars, and that those dollars are backed up by cash and short-term U.S. treasuries, the highest quality instruments, so that these instruments can be used for digital trade all over the world.
This will ensure U.S. dollar dominance. It will advance our position as a reserve currency in the world, rather than see the retreat and decline that we might otherwise experience.
The other thing that it will do is it will stimulate demand for United States treasuries. In fact, the projections are that by the end of this decade, stablecoin issuers here in the United States will be the number one holders of U.S. treasuries in the world. Think about that.
I’d far prefer a benign stablecoin issuer to the CCP or other sovereign nations.
So, I think there’s a lot to like about this bill. I appreciate the bipartisan support that we’ve received moving on to it, and I look forward, again, to making history with my colleagues later this week.
Thank you.
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