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The new US Stablecoin bill, known as “Guidelines and Establishment of National Innovation for the US Stablecoins (Genius) Act,” is a major move to protect US blockchain innovation. Sponsored by Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), it marks a rare moment of bipartisan support to establish a clear regulatory framework for certain aspects of the digital asset industry. This means that it could establish meaningful guidelines around licensing and monitoring, transparency and reservation standards, as well as consumer protection and AML/KYC.
The Senate Banking Committee has already been passed by 18-6 votes, but the Genius Law has not yet become law. However, if the bill passes, it could drive the US past other jurisdictions that traditionally outweighed the US, particularly the market for cryptocurrency regulation in Europe, when it comes to enacting a clear regulatory framework for cryptocurrency.
However, it is very easy to assume that on the first day after the bill has passed, crypto exchanges, financial companies, and even companies like Amazon, X, and Meta will soon be encouraged to increase participation in the Stablecoin landscape. The reality is that the success of these institutions depends on access to instant price supplies. This is something that is universally inaccessible today.
Something no one has spoken about genius behavior
Real-time, accurate market data enhances the world’s most well-known exchanges and financial institutions. Think about it: When high frequency trading first hit the scene with early Aughts, speed was everything. The most competitive traders of the time remember that someone else lost a huge amount of time on the arbitrage opportunity, as they were just a few milliseconds faster.
However, experts today estimate that regulatory fragmentation will lead to significant losses for financial institutions, up to 5-10% of annual revenue. Plus, overall market data spending rose 8.1% in 2024 alone, but the survey found that rising market data costs are rapidly surpassing consumer budgets in a completely unsustainable way. Last year, a significant increase in trading terminal usage led to record-breaking spending allocated to market data. What’s clear is that over time, access to accurate, real-time market data will become increasingly reserved for the few who can afford it.
It doesn’t stop simply by banning individual traders from excluded access. Some companies pay more than 12 times their peers for the same data. Affordable options finance and Google Finance like Yahoo! are not going to cut it down. Here you can only get old data. This is relatively useless for traders who need to capitalize on market movements faster than their eyes blink.
If the act of genius passes, the US has the necessary regulatory clarity to be stable to see increased participation from businesses and businesses, but a key part of these companies and companies successfully implementing stable payments and investments is universal access to real-time price supply.
How Defi is rewriting the market data economy
DEFI has the potential to solve the problems of accessible and affordable real-time pricing data through unique products such as the distributed price tier. There’s nothing in Tradfi like these price tiers today. It aggregates real-time high fidelity information directly from first-party providers, providing over 1000 symbols at any time. This eliminates exclusive control over pricing data and ensures open and transparent access to all participants.
Through next-generation infrastructure, the decentralized price tier works in collaboration with traditional institutions to aggregate fresh, pure data directly from sources. Additionally, data is published on the chain, making it available at no exorbitant costs associated with Bloomberg Terminal subscriptions.
Additionally, the DEFI protocol uses smart contracts to handle execution. This seamlessly automates liquidity delivery, trade matching, and order fulfillment, minimizing costs and errors while simultaneously enabling unparalleled levels of speed and efficiency. Tradfi is often heavily associated with intermediaries, but Defi democratizes access. This means that any person with an internet connection is free to use decentralized tools. At the same time, defi settlements are almost customary as they utilize on-chain offerings to transfer assets and funds in seconds. This reduces the risk of counterparties and allows for continued use of capital.
Why the future of finance is more than just defi vs. tradfi
In light of the clarity of Stablecoin’s payment regulations, universal access to real-time prices will encourage businesses and businesses to adopt stable payments and participate in investments. In fact, this is a key factor for their viability and growth.
Democratized access is the next frontier in financial efficiency. When price data is freely available, market participants can compete not only on privileged access but also on execution and liquidity. Furthermore, decentralisation of the run venue will result in deeper liquidity, reduced spreads, and increased capital efficiency. Also, if the settlement is transparent and myopia, the risk of counterparties disappears and unleashes increased market participation.
But this doesn’t just push Defi’s offering up to growing users. Democratized access to real-time, accurate market data will improve the entire financial industry and open a new era where institutions and individuals can compete equally alike. The Genius Act is an important law that helps place distributed assets like Stablecoins on a map, but we cannot forget that critical infrastructure such as affordable price supplies are not in place to guide a new era.