This month Congress passed the GENIUS Act, an acronym for the “Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins of 2025.” Designed to regulate stablecoins, a category of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value, the Act is highly controversial.
Critics variously argue that it anoints stablecoins as the equivalent of “programmable” central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), that it lacks strong consumer protections, and that government centralization destroys the independence of the cryptocurrency market. Proponents say the rapidly expanding stablecoin market not only provides a faster and cheaper payments system but can serve as a major funding source to help alleviate the federal debt crisis, which is poised to destroy the economy if not checked, and that the stablecoin market has gotten so large that without regulation, we may have to bail it out when it becomes a multitrillion dollar industry that is “too big to fail.”
For most people, however, the whole subject of stablecoins is a mystery, so this article will attempt to throw some light on it. It will also explore some historical use cases demonstrating how the government might incorporate stablecoins into a broader program for escaping the debt crisis altogether.
Continue readingFiled under: Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, economics, economy, FINANCE, Genius Act, Greenbacks, money, national debt, NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE BANK, public banking, stablecoins | 8 Comments »
WEB OF DEBT BLOG 
AI Abundance, Part 4: THE CLARITY ACT AND THE STABLECOIN WARS
As Americans prepare to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, few are paying attention to a bill moving through Congress that could seriously impinge on our financial independence.
The Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act, H.R. 4766, is slated to make privately issued stablecoins a major component of the U.S. monetary system. Supporters see stablecoins as a way to strengthen the dollar’s global role while creating a vast new market for U.S. Treasury securities. Critics see the rise of programmable private money that can be monitored, frozen, or restricted by its issuers. Banks fear the loss of the deposits that are essential to advancing affordable credit. What appears to be a debate about digital tokens has thus become a battle over the future of banking itself and finance.
Why Stablecoins Matter
Stablecoins are privately issued digital tokens that can circulate on blockchain networks independently of the banking system. They are designed to maintain a stable value, typically one dollar per token. Unlike Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, whose values fluctuate wildly, stablecoins are usually backed by reserve assets such as cash and short-term U.S. Treasury securities.
Their growth has been explosive. The stablecoin market now measures in the hundreds of billions of dollars and continues to expand rapidly. Advocates see them as the next stage in the evolution of money: faster, cheaper, available around the clock, and capable of moving across borders without relying on traditional banking networks.
Continue reading →Filed under: Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary | Tagged: bitcoin, blockchain, Clarity Act, community banks, crypto, cryptocurrency, ECASH Act, federal debt, FINANCE, Genius Act, Greenbacks, NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE BANK, programmable currency, Project Hamilton, Public Banking, stablecoins | 2 Comments »