The year 2025 marked a pivotal shift in U.S. crypto regulation as Congress moved away from enforcement-driven policy toward clearer statutory frameworks. While lawmakers delivered a definitive outcome on stablecoins, progress on market structure, tax policy, and CBDC issues remained uneven, reflecting both bipartisan momentum and unresolved regulatory complexity across digital asset markets.

The most consequential development was the enactment of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins, or GENIUS, Act, signed into law in July. As the first comprehensive federal crypto statute, GENIUS removed payment stablecoins from securities and commodities law, assigning oversight to banking regulators rather than the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) commented:

This bill will enable U.S. businesses and consumers to take advantage of the next generation of financial innovation. A product of months of bipartisan negotiations, the GENIUS Act will protect consumers, enable responsible innovation, and safeguard the dominance of the U.S. dollar.

Issuers must fully back stablecoins with cash or short-term U.S. Treasurys, are prohibited from paying yield, and must comply with Bank Secrecy Act requirements. The law also introduced a tiered oversight model, allowing state regulation for issuers below $10 billion in market capitalization while requiring federal supervision for larger players. From a policy perspective, GENIUS signals a strategic U.S. commitment to regulated private stablecoins as the preferred vehicle for digital dollar payments, effectively sidelining near-term prospects for a retail central bank digital currency.

Read more: US Senator Pushes Game-Changing Crypto Bill as Congress Seeks Market Certainty

Outside of stablecoins, Congress advanced but did not finalize a new market structure regime for crypto assets. The House passed the Digital Asset Market Clarity, or CLARITY, Act, which seeks to define when tokens qualify as digital commodities subject to CFTC oversight and proposes a “ blockchain maturity” pathway allowing assets to transition out of securities regulation as networks decentralize.

In response, the Senate Agriculture Committee released the bipartisan Boozman-Booker discussion draft, which takes a more prescriptive approach by granting the CFTC exclusive jurisdiction over spot digital commodity markets and imposing strict custody, asset segregation and consumer protection requirements. While the two proposals differ in methodology, both reflect a shared conclusion that the CFTC should regulate non-security crypto spot markets. Reconciling definitions, jurisdictional boundaries and regulatory rigor remains the central legislative task heading into 2026. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) opined:

This bipartisan discussion draft would provide the CFTC with new authority to regulate the digital commodity spot market, create new protections for retail customers, and ensure the agency has the personnel and resources necessary to oversee this growing market.

Congress also addressed several high-impact peripheral issues without delivering comprehensive resolution. The House passed the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act, limiting the Federal Reserve’s ability to issue a central bank digital currency without explicit congressional approval, effectively placing a legislative brake on a U.S. CBDC. Separately, lawmakers nullified the IRS “DeFi broker rule” using the Congressional Review Act, protecting non-custodial wallets and decentralized protocols from unworkable tax reporting mandates while preserving obligations for custodial intermediaries.

Alongside White House guidance urging regulators to move away from regulation by enforcement, these actions reinforced a broader shift in tone. For market participants, 2025 provided meaningful certainty in high-risk areas while leaving final market structure decisions as the defining regulatory catalyst for the next phase of U.S. crypto policy.

• What did the GENIUS Act change for stablecoins?
  It established the first federal framework for payment stablecoins under banking regulators with full reserve requirements.
• Why is U.S. crypto market structure still unresolved?
  House and Senate proposals differ on CFTC authority, asset definitions, and compliance standards.
• How did Congress address CBDC concerns in 2025?
  Lawmakers restricted the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC without explicit congressional approval.
• What happened to the IRS DeFi broker rule?
  Congress overturned it, shielding non-custodial wallets and decentralized protocols from expanded tax reporting.

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