A model of Bitcoin and a portrait of U.S. President Donald Trump. Yonhap News.

The global cryptocurrency market capitalization has surpassed $4 trillion (approximately 5,574 trillion won) for the first time following the passage of cryptocurrency-related bills in the United States.

According to the British daily Financial Times (FT), the cryptocurrency market cap exceeded $4 trillion on the 18th (local time) as digital assets rallied across the board, immediately after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a package of cryptocurrency bills, including the "GENIUS Act," which incorporates stablecoins into the institutional framework.

The price of a single Bitcoin exceeded $123,000, and prices of other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum and Solana also surged simultaneously.

This upward trend is attributed to the U.S. House passing a package of three major cryptocurrency bills on the 17th.

Among them, the "GENIUS Act" has passed both the House and the Senate and has completed the signing process by President Donald Trump. This law establishes the regulatory framework necessary to promote the use of stablecoins by defining their legal status, issuance procedures, and disclosure obligations.

The "CLARITY Act," which clarifies regulations related to digital assets, and the "CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act," which prohibits the Federal Reserve from issuing a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), are now awaiting Senate approval following their passage in the House.

Mark Palmer, an analyst at investment bank Benchmark Company, stated, "Institutional capital that has been waiting for clarity is now flowing into the market."

This represents a massive recovery for the cryptocurrency market compared to November 2022, when the market capitalization had plummeted to $800 billion (approximately 1,114 trillion won) following the collapse of FTX, the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange at the time.

The FT reported that cryptocurrency investors expect the passage of these bills to prompt Wall Street banks, investors, and corporations to enter the cryptocurrency market in earnest.

CEOs of major financial institutions, including Bank of America (BOA), Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase, had previously indicated that they would create their own stablecoins once the GENIUS Act became law.

President Trump is preparing to sign an executive order that would allow the $9 trillion U.S. retirement pension market to invest in assets such as cryptocurrency.

However, some express concerns that as cryptocurrency becomes more closely integrated with traditional financial markets, it could pose serious risks in the event of a market collapse.

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (Democrat) criticized the GENIUS Act, noting that it "lacks the basic safeguards to ensure that stablecoins do not destabilize the entire financial system." She also raised concerns that stablecoins issued by individual companies carry the risk of concentrating economic power within a few select firms.

Yonhap News