GENIUS Act stablecoin regulation

The GENIUS Act became law about a year ago and represents the United States’ first major federal cryptocurrency law. Regulators are still crafting the rules for stablecoins, those rules are not yet ready for implementation, and regulators have a few months left before finalizing these rules.

Regulatory agencies have issued proposals and prompts for comment, including an OCC proposal in February and an FDIC release of 144 questions about custody, capital and liquidity standards, and the industry is working on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act.

The GENIUS Act is the United States’ first major federal law addressing cryptocurrencies and directs regulators to establish standards for reserves, governance and operational requirements for stablecoin issuers. The statute assigns the development of those detailed requirements to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The law frames key supervisory areas but leaves technical and implementation specifics to agency rulemaking.

Regulators have issued proposals and requests for input as they build those rules, including suggested know‑your‑customer checks for stablecoin issuers. The FDIC published 144 questions focused on oversight topics such as custody, capital and liquidity standards. The OCC published a proposal in February interpreting the statute and outlining its approach to implementation. The industry is also pursuing legislative clarity through the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, and reporting on the CLARITY Act yield compromise and discussions at the Consensus Miami summit has accompanied this rulemaking.

At present, the rules remain in the proposal stage and are not ready for implementation. Regulators continue to take comments and refine draft requirements while the agencies work toward finalizing standards. A few months remain before the agencies are expected to complete their rulemaking.

Industry participants and lawmakers have been working to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, a legislative package tied to stablecoin regulation and widely discussed among sector stakeholders and industry observers. The text of the combined Clarity Act drafts was not yet public as of Friday night, with the consolidated draft language remaining unavailable for public inspection at that time. Senators Cynthia Lummis and Bernie Moreno were expected to brief former President Donald Trump on the bill, as noted in reports. There was no public readout of that briefing following the meeting. Lawmakers tweeted about Mr. Trump’s remarks concerning the election later Thursday, posting those messages on Twitter the same day.

Industry participants and lawmakers have been working to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, a legislative package tied to stablecoin regulation and discussed among sector stakeholders and industry observers. As of Friday night, the text of the combined Clarity Act drafts was not yet public, with the consolidated draft language remaining unavailable for public inspection at that time and no official text released. Senators Cynthia Lummis and Bernie Moreno were expected to brief former President Donald Trump on the bill, as reported. There was no public readout of that briefing after the meeting. Lawmakers tweeted publicly about Mr. Trump’s remarks concerning the election later Thursday, posting those messages on Twitter the same day.