{"id":15052,"date":"2025-08-15T15:42:46","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T13:42:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wsj-crypto.com\/?p=15052"},"modified":"2025-08-15T15:42:46","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T13:42:46","slug":"debunking-the-myths-surrounding-the-genius-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wsj-crypto.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/15\/debunking-the-myths-surrounding-the-genius-act\/","title":{"rendered":"Debunking the Myths Surrounding the GENIUS Act"},"content":{"rendered":"

“`html<\/p>\n

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Perspective by: Zachary Kelman<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

No, the GENIUS Act doesn\u2019t eliminate all governmental oversight over currency. It doesn\u2019t render Bitcoin tax-exempt. It doesn\u2019t \u201cauthorize\u201d decentralized finance (DeFi). And no \u2014 it\u2019s not a secretive strategy for a Mark-of-the-Beast-type CBDC, especially with the anti-CBDC clauses enacted alongside it.<\/p>\n

What the GENIUS Act accomplishes \u2014 and what we should celebrate \u2014 is dismantling the grip that a select few dominant banks and regulators have held over worldwide dollar clearing for years. It terminates their monopoly on who can access legitimate dollars \u2014 and complicates their silent mandate to oversee how that money is utilized, and whether it conforms with political priorities in Washington or on Wall Street, making it considerably more challenging \u2014 perhaps even unattainable.<\/p>\n

The GENIUS Act<\/a> represents the first significant fracture in a system that has been drifting toward financial authoritarianism for years. Surfing the momentum of stablecoin-driven dollarization, it redirects the US financial system away from a surveillance-focused regime. It guides it \u2014 imperfectly, but substantially \u2014 toward expanded monetary freedom and international access to the still-stable reserve currency.<\/p>\n

Even though the torch-and-pitchfork faction will accept nothing short of a crypto miracle, grasping this pivotal legislation necessitates examining crypto and banking history rather than the latest social media outcry.<\/p>\n

The crypto aspiration<\/h2>\n

When I transitioned from traditional finance to crypto more than a decade ago, I envisioned a “Crypto Aspiration” and a “Crypto Dilemma.” The aspiration was that Bitcoin, specifically, and crypto, in general, would evolve into a superior form of currency for individuals, particularly those who were underserved \u2014 a sort of public utility that fostered growth and enhanced lives.<\/p>\n

For this to materialize, Bitcoin needed to stay decentralized and unblemished. This required regulators to keep their unwanted influence away \u2014 and banks and institutionalists must be prevented from co-opting it to maintain the status quo.<\/p>\n\n

The crypto dilemma<\/h2>\n

The counterpart, the crypto dilemma<\/a>, was that Bitcoin and public blockchains would be repurposed to thwart money laundering \u2014 in doing so, defeating financial liberty. It\u2019s the vision that BlackRock CEO Larry Fink \u2014 previously a Bitcoin skeptic, now the face of iBIT \u2014 articulated in 2017: \u201cA genuine global digital currency\u201d where \u201ceverything would be understood, everything would flow through,\u201d rendering money laundering impossible by design.<\/p>\n

Associated: <\/strong><\/em>The GENIUS Act has passed and DePIN should follow<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

This might appear overly cautious to some, but it\u2019s not hypothetical. US financial regulations have transformed \u2014 from the Bank Secrecy Act of 1973 to the USA PATRIOT Act \u2014 into an extensive surveillance system that authorized banks to monitor, document, and regulate their clients\u2019 activities.<\/p>\n

It reached a critical point during the Obama administration when the DOJ initiated Operation Chokepoint, pressuring banks to cut ties with legally operating yet politically disfavored enterprises \u2014 from payday lenders and pawn shops to adult websites and coin dealers.<\/p>\n

Crypto advocacy<\/h2>\n

Since Pirate Wires has thoroughly chronicled<\/a> the targeting of crypto under Chokepoint 2.0 \u2014 or, as Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated, when \u201cWarren and Gensler sought to unlawfully extinguish our entire industry\u201d \u2014 there\u2019s no need to revisit how crypto became a focal point in this subsequent chapter.<\/p>\n

Luckily, that chapter was shorter than anticipated. Crypto advocacy intensified. Judges ruled against then-SEC Chair Gary Gensler, resulting in the approval of a Bitcoin ETF. Most significantly, USD-denominated stablecoins surged just as the dollar’s global reserve status encountered its gravest challenges in modern times \u2014 and for the first time, the American financial imperial initiative hesitated. Warren, Gensler, and the institutionalists faltered. Cooler heads prevailed.<\/p>\n