Coinbase, Circle Pop As Stablecoin Legislation Clears Senate – But These Two Stocks Took A Hit

Stocktwits - Crypto-linked stocks surged on Wednesday after the U.S. Senate passed stablecoin legislation, setting up regulatory rules for cryptocurrencies pegged to the dollar.

Shares of Circle Internet (CRCL), the company behind the second-largest stablecoin by market cap, USDC (USDC), jumped more than 20%, and shares of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) gained more than 10% in afternoon trade.

Coinbase’s move was further fueled by the launch of Coinbase Payments, a new platform designed to simplify stablecoin transactions for merchants. It offers instant, round-the-clock USDC payments for commerce platforms and is already live on Shopify (SHOP). The company described the system as the first full-stack stablecoin payment solution built to scale.

"More than half of the Fortune 500 is building onchain," Coinbase wrote in a blog post. "A third of small businesses already use crypto. Coinbase Payments eliminates the technical barriers preventing platforms from offering stablecoin payments."

Shares of traditional financial payments giants declined in response. Shares of Visa (NYSE:V) and Mastercard (NYSE:MA) were down more than 3.5%.

The bill, known as the GENIUS Act, cleared the U.S. Senate with a 68-30 vote. However, it still needs to pass through the House of Representatives and receive U.S. President Donald Trump’s signature before it becomes law. It aims to set clear rules of stablecoin collateralization as well as align itself with anti-money laundering laws.

The measure arrives amid growing signs of stablecoin adoption by major corporations. Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) have reportedly been looking into issuing their own stablecoins to bypass the traditional fees of card-based systems like Visa and Mastercard.

It was also reported that the largest banks in America, including JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Citigroup (NYSE:C), and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), are collaborating to explore issuing a joint stablecoin.

Companies in the financial sector have been bracing for the possibility that stablecoins could become widely accepted under Trump, who dubbed himself the ‘Crypto President’ after winning his second term in office.

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