What the GENIUS Act is
The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act, known as the GENIUS Act, is the first US federal statute written specifically for payment stablecoins: digital assets designed to be redeemed for a fixed amount of money. It began as S. 1582 in the 119th Congress and became Public Law 119-27 when it was approved on July 18, 2025 (GovInfo).
The law does three big things. It decides who may issue a payment stablecoin in the US (permitted issuers only). It sets how those issuers must operate: reserves, disclosures, redemption, capital, risk management and anti-money-laundering duties. And it decides what a payment stablecoin is not: a permitted issuer's payment stablecoin is not a security under the federal securities laws (Sec. 17). Most of the detail is left to regulators, which is why 2026 has been a year of proposals rather than final rules.
Who it applies to, and who it doesn't
- Issuers. Section 3(a) makes it unlawful for anyone other than a permitted payment stablecoin issuer to issue a payment stablecoin in the US. Permitted issuers are approved subsidiaries of insured depository institutions, federal qualified issuers approved by the OCC (nonbanks, uninsured national banks, federal branches), and state qualified issuers (Sec. 2(23)).
- Smaller state issuers. A state qualified issuer with consolidated outstanding issuance of not more than $10 billion may opt for a state regime, if that regime is substantially similar to the federal framework (Sec. 4(c)). Treasury's September 30, 2026 interim final rule sets the review procedures (FR Doc 2026-19966).
- Digital asset service providers (exchanges, brokers, custodians). From July 18, 2028, three years after enactment, they generally may not offer or sell a payment stablecoin to a person in the US unless it comes from a permitted issuer or qualifies under the foreign-issuer exception (Secs. 3(b), 18; Treasury sb0605).
- Foreign issuers. Section 18 lets a foreign issuer's token be offered in the US if Treasury finds its home regime comparable, the issuer registers with the OCC, and it holds enough reserves in a US institution for US customers.
- Not covered as payment stablecoins: tokens that are not designed for fixed-value redemption, such as bitcoin or ether, and products regulated elsewhere. Market structure for those assets is the subject of the CLARITY Act, which is still a bill.
Key requirements
| Requirement | Section | Plain-language meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Only permitted issuers | Sec. 3(a) | No US issuance without federal or state approval. |
| 1:1 identifiable reserves | Sec. 4(a)(1)(A) | Cash, Fed balances, insured deposits, Treasury bills of 93 days or less, certain overnight repo and money market funds. |
| Monthly reserve report | Sec. 4(a)(1)(C) | Publish outstanding tokens and reserve composition every month on the issuer's website. |
| Fee disclosure | Sec. 4(a)(1)(B) | Disclose redemption and purchase fees; changes need at least 7 days' notice. |
| No interest or yield | Sec. 4(a)(11) | Issuers may not pay holders interest or yield just for holding the token. |
| AML and sanctions | Sec. 4(a)(5) | Issuers are treated as financial institutions for Bank Secrecy Act and sanctions purposes. |
| Not a security | Sec. 17 | A permitted issuer's payment stablecoin is excluded from the securities-law definitions. |
| Effective date | Sec. 20 | Earlier of 18 months after enactment or 120 days after final regulations. |
Open rulemakings (GENIUS Act implementing rules, 2026)
The statute leaves most details to agencies. As of October 23, 2026, these are the main federal pieces, all tracked weekly on the regulation tracker:
- OCC final rule (RIN 1557-AF41), "Regulations on Implementing the GENIUS Act for Entities Subject to OCC Jurisdiction": final rule announced October 21, 2026 (OCC News Release 2026-92). It covers permitted payment stablecoin issuers and foreign payment stablecoin issuers under OCC jurisdiction, and certain custody activities of OCC-supervised entities. The rule and the Act take effect January 18, 2027. Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money-laundering and OFAC sanctions rules will come in a separate rulemaking with Treasury. The OCC will announce separately when it begins accepting applications and waiver requests. The rule is published in the Federal Register on October 23, 2026 (91 FR 67000; FR Doc 2026-21706) (Federal Register).
- Treasury section 3 NPRM (FR Doc 2026-16796, RIN 1505-AC95), on the prohibitions and limits on issuance, offer and sale: published August 18, 2026; comments closed October 19, 2026 (Federal Register). Still a proposal.
- Federal Reserve Board NPRMs: Docket R-1899 (FR Doc 2026-19860) on the Board's responsibilities for Board-supervised issuers, and Docket R-1900 (FR Doc 2026-19899) on application procedures for bank subsidiaries. Comments due November 30, 2026 (R-1899, R-1900).
- Treasury interim final rule (FR Doc 2026-19966) on the Stablecoin Certification Review Committee's review of state regimes: effective September 30, 2026, comments due November 30, 2026 (Federal Register).
Why January 18, 2027: Section 20 uses the earlier of two dates. Final regulations issued after September 20, 2026 (120 days before January 18, 2027) would trigger a date later than January 18, 2027. Based on Federal Register publications checked through October 23, 2026, the OCC announced its final rule on October 21, 2026 (now published in the Federal Register on October 23, 2026 (91 FR 67000; FR Doc 2026-21706)) and states the rule and the Act take effect January 18, 2027 (OCC). This matches Treasury's description of January 18, 2027 as the expected effective date (sb0605).
GENIUS Act vs MiCA vs the UK
| Point | US GENIUS Act | EU MiCA (EMTs) | UK (proposed and final rules) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Status | Enacted 2025-07-18; not yet effective | EMT rules apply since 2024-06-30 | FCA regime expected 2027-10-25; BoE systemic rules in draft |
| Who issues | Permitted issuers (bank subsidiaries, OCC-approved, state-qualified) | Credit institutions and e-money institutions (Art. 48) | FCA-authorised issuers; systemic ones also BoE |
| Interest to holders | Banned for issuers (Sec. 4(a)(11)) | Banned (Art. 50) | See UK page |
Details: EU MiCA explained and UK stablecoin rules.
What it means for builders
- Plan around January 18, 2027 as the expected effective date, but watch for the first final rule, which can change the timing (Sec. 20).
- If you list or custody stablecoins for US users, map each token to a permitted issuer or the Section 18 foreign-issuer route before July 18, 2028.
- Product features that pay holders for simply holding a stablecoin need legal review against Section 4(a)(11).
- Monthly reserve reports become a standard data source for treasury and risk teams; see our stablecoin issuer disclosures.
- State-chartered issuers under $10 billion should follow Treasury's state-certification process.
- None of this is legal advice; get counsel for your specific model.