While the world was distracted by the Epstein debacle, legislators introduced the GENUIS Act that would permit the US government to regulate stablecoins. The GENUIS (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act), primarily sponsored by Senator Bill Hagerty (R-Tennessee), permits the government to oversee, regulate, and define the $250 billion stablecoin market.
Now, stablecoins differ from cryptocurrencies as they are pegged to a stable asset such as a fiat currency or commodity. Cryptocurrencies are allegedly allowed to freely operate on the market based on supply and demand. The GENIUS Act will peg stablecoins to the US dollar and require issuers to maintain a 1:1 reserve ratio in short-term treasuries or cash.
Now, stablecoins differ from cryptocurrencies as they are pegged to a stable asset such as a fiat currency or commodity. Cryptocurrencies are allegedly allowed to freely operate on the market based on supply and demand. The GENIUS Act will peg stablecoins to the US dollar and require issuers to maintain a 1:1 reserve ratio in short-term treasuries or cash.
Central Bank Digital Currency. «
Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, July 15, 2024.
Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, July 15, 2024.
Issuers
holding over $10 billion in outstanding stablecoins will be subject to
federal regulation under a newly created oversight agency. These issuers
will now be deemed financial institutions and required to meet the
traditional banking regulations as well. Stablecoins can no longer pay
interest or act as an alternative to bonds. Perhaps most notably,
issuers must not meet anti-money-laundering (AML) regulations, which are
set to provide the government with unlimited access to payments.
So
essentially, the government is turning the stablecoin into a digital
dollar of sorts. The concern here is that this could delve into digitizing all currency and creating a CBDC. The act specifically
provides the government with the authority to “block, freeze, and reject
specific or impermissible transactions.” “A permitted payment
stablecoin issuer shall be treated as a financial institution
[and]…shall be subject to all Federal laws applicable to a financial
institution located in the United States including…policies and
procedures to block, freeze, and reject specific or impermissible
transactions that violate Federal or State laws, rules, or regulations…”
You won’t control your money. The government will. This would end freedom altogether. «
Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, July 17, 2024.
Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, July 17, 2024.
This provision is not intended to protect the world against drug
smugglers and thieves. This provision is intended to grant government
unlimited control over how people spend stablecoins. The government
could have easily frozen the accounts of those who refused the COVID-19
vaccination, for example, and the Biden Administration admittedly weaponized existing financial institutions to spy on Conservative Americans through their payment histories.
“Stablecoins are the bait and switch for direct-issued government CBDCs,” Bitcoin Magazine editor Mark Goodwin said, “Stablecoins can be programmed. Exactly like how we fear CBDCs will be programmed.
They’re exactly the same tokenized mechanism… They can be taken out of
your wallet. Your wallet can be blacklisted. A lot of the things that we
fear about CBDCs are totally available within the tool set of
Stablecoins.”
The GENIUS Act has received bipartisan support. Although Republican
Hagerty championed the bill, he had bipartisan co-sponsors, including
Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tim Scott
(R-SC), and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY).
I warned that governments would NEVER allow any cryptocurrency or stablecoin to compete with their own currency.
I long warned that government was merely tolerating these alternative
currencies in the past as they posed no real threat. But now the
government needs the ability to tax everything to support its perpetual
spending. Every digital transaction is traceable. Every digital currency
is controllable—the ultimate power grab.
One of Donald Trump’s main campaign promises was the prevention of
CBDC. The headlines are enraged over his failure to release the Epstein
files, but the GENUIS Act is a far deeper betrayal of the American
people that has the ability to usher in a new monetary system.
See also:
