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The new United States stablecoin bill, known as the “Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act,” is a big move for safeguarding blockchain innovation in the US. Sponsored by Senator Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), it marks a rare moment of bipartisan support for establishing a clear regulatory framework for one particular facet of the digital assets industry: namely, an area that has potential to establish meaningful guidelines around licensing and oversight, transparency and reserve standards, and consumer protection and AML/KYC.
While it’s already passed the Senate Banking Committee in an 18-6 vote, the GENIUS Act has yet to become law. But, if the bill goes through, it could propel the US past other jurisdictions—particularly Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation in Europe—that have traditionally outpaced the US when it comes to enacting clear regulatory frameworks for crypto.
However, it’s far too easy to think that on day one after this bill passes, crypto exchanges, financial firms, and even companies like Amazon, X, and Meta will be immediately encouraged to increase their participation in the stablecoin landscape. The reality is that the success of these institutions hinges on access to instant price feeds—something that is not universally accessible today.
What no one is talking about when it comes to the GENIUS Act
Real-time, accurate market data is what powers the world’s most renowned exchanges and financial institutions. Think about it: speed was everything when high frequency trading first came onto the scene in the early aughts, and the most competitive traders from those days still remember losing big time on an arbitrage opportunity all because someone else was just a few milliseconds faster.
However, experts estimate that today, regulatory fragmentation leads to huge losses for financial institutions, which can be as high as 5-10% of their annual turnover. On top of that, while overall market data spend increased by 8.1% in 2024 alone, research also shows that the rising cost of market data is rapidly outpacing consumer budgets in a way that is wholly unsustainable. Last year, we saw record-breaking spending allocated towards market data as a result of a significant increase in the use of trading terminals. What’s clear is that, as time goes on, access to accurate, real-time market data will become increasingly reserved for the elite few who can afford it.
That doesn’t stop with simply barring individual traders from getting access—some firms pay up to 12 times more than their peers for the same data. And affordable options like Yahoo! Finance and Google Finance aren’t going to cut it: here, you can only get stale data, which is relatively useless to traders who need to capitalize on market movements happening faster than the blink of an eye.
If the GENIUS Act passes, the US will have the necessary regulatory clarity on stablecoins to see increasing participation from firms and companies, but the key piece missing for these firms and companies to successfully implement stablecoin payments and investments is universal access to real-time price feeds.
How DeFi is rewriting the market data economy
DeFi has the potential to solve the problem of accessible, affordable real-time price data through unique offerings like decentralized price layers. Nothing in TradFi exists quite like these price layers today, which aggregate real-time, high-fidelity information directly from first-party providers, offering over one thousand symbols to anyone at any time. This eliminates the monopolistic control of pricing data and ensures open, transparent access for all participants.
Through next-gen infrastructure, decentralized price layers are working hand-in-hand with traditional institutions to aggregate the freshest, purest data straight from the source. And since the data is published on chain, it’s available without the exorbitant cost associated with a Bloomberg Terminal subscription.
Additionally, DeFi protocols process execution through the use of smart contracts. This seamlessly automates liquidity provision, trade matching, and order fulfillment, minimizing costs and errors while simultaneously enabling an unmatched level of speed and efficiency. TradFi is often heavily associated with middlemen, but DeFi democratizes access, meaning anyone with an internet connection can use decentralized tools at their disposal. At the same time, settlement in DeFi is near-instantaneous because it leverages on-chain offerings to transfer assets and funds in seconds. This reduces counterparty risk and ensures capital is available for continuous use—something that you rarely find in the realm of TradFi where delays are the norm.
Why the future of finance is more than just DeFi vs. TradFi
In light of coming regulatory clarity on stablecoin payments, universal access to real-time prices will spur companies and firms to adopt stablecoin payments and participate in investments—in fact, this is a critical ingredient to their viability and growth.
Democratizing access is the next frontier of financial efficiency. When pricing data is freely available, market participants can compete on execution and liquidity as opposed to privileged access alone. Additionally, when execution venues are decentralized, liquidity deepens, reducing spreads and improving capital efficiency; and when settlement is transparent and near-instant, counterparty risks disappear, unlocking greater market participation.
But this goes beyond simply pushing DeFi’s offerings to an ever-increasing number of users. Democratizing access to real-time, accurate market data will improve the finance industry as a whole, opening up a new era where institutions and individuals alike can compete equitably. While the GENIUS Act is an important piece of legislation that is helping to put decentralized assets like stablecoins on the map, we can’t forget that essential infrastructure—like affordable, accessible price feeds—need to be in place to usher in a new era of finance: one where the best of DeFi and TradFi can come together to create an open, transparent, and lightning-fast system for all.
