Wen Big Bank Stablecoin?

Happy Friday, Defiers!

Today’s big story:

All three Crypto Week bills passed in the House yesterday, with the stablecoin-focused GENIUS Act in the most advanced stage

In other news:

Stablecoin blockchain Plasma’s token sale started yesterday
The price of PUMP is struggling, despite $20 million buyback
SharpLink files to sell up to $5 billion of its stock to buy more ETH
The Stellar development roadmap paves way for expansion and network scalability [SPONSORED]
Investment policy statements: Ending misalignment and empowering long-term vision in decentralized organizations [SPONSORED]
DIA's Infra Gardens Event Recap: Building the Future of Crypto & DeFi [MEDIA PARTNERSHIP]

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📈 Markets in the last 24 hrs:

TICKER	VALUE	24H
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Solana	$181.13	3.86 %

MessariPortals	MINDSHARE Rank	MINDSHARE % Change (7d)
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Today’s Big Story

Congress Passes Landmark Crypto Legislation

After days of procedural chaos, Congress just closed out Crypto Week by moving two major crypto bills and advancing a third anti-CBDC measure.

Here’s what cleared yesterday, and where each heads next:

Bill / Vote	What is Does	Where It Goes Next
GENIUS Act 308–122	First federal framework for U.S. dollar payment stablecoins; reserve, disclosure, supervisory regime.	To President Trump (Senate already passed)
Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act 294–134	Splits oversight of digital assets between the CFTC (spot digital commodities / trading venues) and SEC (capital formation / certain investment contracts), create registration regimes for intermediaries, codify disclosure duties	To Senate (Prospects less certain, debate on cuts to SEC authority)
Anti‑CBDC Surveillance State Act 219-210	Bars the Fed from issuing a retail CBDC absent explicit congressional authorization	Advanced in House; to be folded into FY26 NDAA

Trump to sign GENIUS Act into law as soon as today

After a procedural standoff of nearly 10 hours, leadership uncoupled controversial riders and rallied >100 Democratic votes; Trump personally whipped GOP holdouts. Passage sends the already‑approved Senate version directly to the White House.

What to watch next: Signing window — reports say this could happen as soon as today; Treasury / Fed implementation timelines; how quickly banks & fintech issuers file.

So, Big Bank Coin Is Coming?

Regulation = green light. Banks were previously waiting for the GENIUS Act to pass for clarity on reserve requirements, issuer types (bank vs. non‑bank), and yield restrictions.

Here’s what financial firms said about stablecoins in Q2 earnings calls:

Citi: Actively scoping a ‘Citi stablecoin’ On Citi’s July 15 earnings call, CEO Jane Fraser said the bank is “looking at the issuance of a Citi stablecoin” and highlighted the tokenized‑deposit space as a “good opportunity” where Citi is already active. The bank is also exploring reserve management for stablecoins and crypto custody services. With shares at their highest since 2008, management might be willing to risk more? How serious? Citi already runs private‑ledger deposit token pilots; management framed a public‑chain stable as an extension, if policy aligns.
Bank of America: Waiting for regulatory clarity and demand BofA CEO Brian Moynihan reiterated that the bank has “done a lot of work” on stablecoins but said use‑cases and client demand remain unproven amid regulatory uncertainty. Earlier remarks this year had suggested BofA would move quickly if a fully dollar‑backed model is legalized. TBD whether the now passed GENIUS act will be enough.
Morgan Stanley: Doesn’t want to miss the stablecoin hype During a post-earnings conference call, CEO Ted Pick said the bank is looking at the potential uses of stablecoins as it considers strategic acquisitions. CFO Sharon Yeshaya told analysts the firm is evaluating client use‑cases as the policy picture clears. It sounds like the safe thing to say in this hyped-up environment, so it’s unclear how serious they actually are.

Banks will certainly want a cut of stablecoins’ lucrative issuance and FX revenue pools. With the bill passed, we’ll see who moves first.

Stay real,

Chris

Note: This is an excerpt from Real World, The Defiant’s weekly deep‑dive into stablecoins and tokenization.

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🎬WATCH

Euler’s Comeback: From Devastating Hack to Top-10 DeFi Protocol

On the latest episode of The Defiant Podcast, The Defiant founder Cami Russo sat down with Michael Bentley, co-founder and CEO of Euler Labs, to explore one of the most remarkable comeback stories in DeFi history.

From a devastating $200M exploit in 2023 to surpassing $1B in outstanding loans, Euler Labs has redefined resilience and innovation in the crypto space. We also dive into the evolution of Euler Labs, the launch of V2, and their groundbreaking innovations in DeFi lending, borrowing, and stablecoins.

Top News in Web3

Stablecoin Blockchain Plasma Kicks Off $50 Million Token Sale Bitfinex-backed Plasma has officially started its token sale, planning to sell 10% of the XPL token supply at a $500 million valuation to raise a total of $50 million. The token sale will be open to eligible participants for roughly ten days, with the XPL token slated to officially launch alongside the Plasma mainnet beta.
PUMP Struggles Despite $20 Million Buyback After its ICO over the weekend and launching for trading on Monday, pumpfun’s token PUMP is struggling, despite the firm’s buyback strategy. The buyback wallet purchased roughly $20 million worth of the PUMP token on Tuesday, but the token is down over 20% over the past 24 hours and 17% on the week.
ETH Treasury Leader SharpLink Gaming Plans $5 Billion Purchase SharpLink Gaming (SBET) — which appointed Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin as chairman of the board in May — has filed to raise an additional $5 billion to buy more ETH, adding to its previous $1 billion target.