The total market value of crypto assets surged past the $4 trillion mark for the first time ever on the back of landmark legislation to regulate the industry – marking a milestone that reflects its shift from a nascent asset class to a central part of the global investment landscape.
The surge came as President Trump on Friday signed into law the GENIUS Act, the first-ever federal law to regulate stablecoins — a form of cryptocurrency pegged to a real-world asset.
The law — passed after a bruising battle in Congress — introduces federal or state oversight of stablecoins tied to the US dollar in a move that helps legitimize a market that has been left largely unregulated.
Citigroup analysts have estimated that the stablecoin market could grow to $3.7 trillion by 2030.
“Anyone who has never invested before, I’m not sure this is the best level to be buying crypto at the moment and in fact I would say the other way,” Ken Mahoney, chief executive of Mahoney Asset Management, told The Post.
“If you have some decent profits, it’s always good to sell it off incrementally.”
The market cap record was driven by a rally in altcoins, a term used to refer to all tokens beside Bitcoin.
Ether jumped nearly 20% over the past five days to trade at around $3,500 as of 5:30 p.m. ET, while benchmark Bitcoin hit a record $123,205 earlier this week. The world’s most popular digital token was trading at around $117,000 at 5:30 p.m. ET.
Uniswap soared 20% on Friday and Solana, known for its meme coins, gained 5.6%.
Investors have been pouring into crypto ETFs in anticipation of “Crypto Week,” hopeful that Trump’s signature on the bills could help cryptocurrency shake its reputation as a contrarian asset.
Bitcoin funds have seen $5.5 billion inflows so far in July. Ether ETFs have brought in $2.9 billion.
“The Genius Act will go down in history as a law that served as a foundational step in mainstreaming of crypto as an asset class,” said Chris Perkins, president, CoinFund.
Mahoney cautioned that the crypto market will likely cool off after the legislation has finished working its way through headlines, as “everything runs its course and runs hot at some point.”
The House on Thursday also passed two broader bills related to cryptocurrency that are awaiting Senate consideration.
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act installs additional regulatory framework around digital assets and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act seeks to block the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, directly to individuals.
After signing the GENIUS ACT, Trump called back to his keynote address at a Bitcoin conference last year.
“I pledged that we would bring back American liberty and leadership and make the United States the crypto capital of the world,” Trump said.
“And that’s what we’ve done. And under the Trump administration, this is only going further.”
The GENIUS Act — short for the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins — requires monthly public disclosure of reserve competition and annual audited financial statements for issuers with a market cap higher than $50 billion, according to the Senate Banking Committee.
“Just as I promised last year, the GENIUS Act creates a clear and simple regulatory framework to establish and unleash the immense promise of dollar-backed stablecoin,” Trump said.
“This could be perhaps the greatest revolution in financial technology since the birth of the internet itself.”
Trump has made an estimated $150 million from trading of his $Trump meme coin since its launch in January through mid-June, according to an analysis by crypto-risk modeling firm Gauntlet.
A so-called “unlock” of Trump meme coins this week is expected to add another $100 million to the president’s fortune, according to crypto research site Messari.
