Broadridge brings you the latest market trends, insights, and analysis that impact banks, brokers, and the global capital markets, including this recent industry development.
What happened?
The U.S. Senate has approved the “Genius” Bill—the first federal legislation to establish a regulatory framework for digital currencies, beginning with stablecoins. The bill is well-positioned to pass the House, setting the stage for a regulated, token-based future in U.S. financial markets.
Why it matters
This bill represents both a milestone and a strategic pivot point. For the first time, the U.S. is formally recognizing and regulating a digital representation of the U.S. dollar, opening the door to real-time, blockchain-based settlement and programmable money.
But the broader implications could be even more profound. The bill lays the foundation for regulating digital assets, which the Clarity Act will likely extend. The Act will focus on an infrastructure model for the tokenization of real-world assets—from mutual funds to equities and private securities. It signals a shift from traditional market infrastructure to a digitally native financial system capable of reducing friction, enabling faster cross-border flows, and democratizing access for global investors.
– Rob Krugman, Chief Digital Officer, Broadridge
This move by the world’s largest capital market sets a benchmark globally. As Washington defines the rules, other jurisdictions will likely align, accelerating international standardization and paving the way for seamless global trading, settlement, and tokenized asset interoperability.
What’s next? What are the implications for financial firms?
- Legislative Momentum: The Clarity Act of 2025, an infrastructure bill for digital assets, is now under consideration in the House. It aims to define regulatory responsibility, market structure, and consumer protection for tokenized markets.
- Market Readiness: With stablecoins now federally recognized, firms will be able to build the operational and compliance architecture to support tokenized securities, crypto assets, and digital settlement flows.
- Strategic Imperative: Financial firms should assess their infrastructure readiness. Can your platform support stablecoin payments? Can you hold tokenized assets securely? Can you settle in real time?
Broadridge’s Distributed Ledger Repo (DLR) platform is currently used by some of the world’s biggest banks and broker-dealers to process over $2 trillion in transactions every month. The platform also supports fully tokenized settlement, including stablecoins.