President Donald Trump appeared to direct the attention toward him before signing a landmark bill into law on Friday.
The legislation, named the GENIUS Act, is the first of its kind to govern a form of cryptocurrency. The law sets guardrails and consumer protection standards for stablecoins, which are tied to assets including the U.S. dollar.
The House passed the bill on Thursday with bipartisan support, after it cleared the Senate in June. Over 100 Democrats, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, joined most Republicans to approve a measure. A band of hard-right members had stalled its movement this week, ultimately switching their votes to “yes” after several conversations with Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson.
While speaking in the East Room of the White House, Trump said that “we worked hard” to muscle the legislation through both chambers, at a ceremonial vote attended by dozens of Senate and House lawmakers.
“It’s very important that the GENIUS Act — they named it after me, and I want to thank, I want to thank you,” Trump said.
“This is a hell of an act,” he continued.
His joke was met with laughter from the audience.
But the crypto-friendly commander-in-chief received quite the opposite reaction on social media.
“Narcissistic old man says what,” one user wrote.
Another user posted an image of Trump looking up to the sky without eye protection during a partial solar eclipse during his first term, adding the caption, “Genius!!!!”
The “Republicans against Trump” account used a clown emoji, and someone wrote “What a clown. America has elected pennywise.”
A different user posted the definition of the word “delusional,” while one called focus to The Wall Street Journal’s new report.
“Lmfaooooo this guy. An actual genius would never say that,” someone wrote.
A different user added, “Such a damn fool.”
“Him thinking be is a genius while his whole life is crumbling around him because of this whole Epstein thing is MFing hilarious,” a user wrote.
While once a skeptic, Trump launched his own cryptocurrency meme coin earlier this year, and held own exclusive dinner with its top buyers at his Virginia golf club in May. The president and the White House had come under criticism for not publishing a list of the attendees, with some citing security concerns.
In June, when asked if he is open to temporarily pulling away from his crypto ventures, Trump said that he is a “fan of crypto,” calling it a “very powerful industry” that the United States has “dominated.”
“I’m president. And what I did do there is build an industry that’s very important,” Trump responded. “If we didn’t have it, China would.”
During his remarks, Trump said that the industry is “going to be stronger and bigger and better than ever before.”
“We’ll sign this and get onto the next battle,” he added.
When praising crypto leaders, he said that “nobody has gained the respect in such a short period of time.”
“It’s good for the dollar and it’s good for the country. That’s why I backed you at an early stage,” Trump said, joking that “And I also did it for the votes.”
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