U.S. Regulators Miss GENIUS Act Deadline With Stablecoin Rules Still In Draft

U.S. regulators missed the GENIUS Act’s July 18 rulemaking deadline with the federal stablecoin framework still divided across proposed regulations, unfinished reporting requirements and open public-comment periods.

President Donald Trump signed the law on July 18, 2025. Section 13 of the GENIUS Act gave the primary federal payment stablecoin regulators, the Treasury Department and state payment stablecoin regulators one year to promulgate implementing regulations through notice-and-comment rulemaking. No coordinated final federal framework was in place when the deadline expired.

The missed deadline does not move the law’s statutory backstop. The GENIUS Act takes effect on January 18, 2027, unless final primary-regulator rules trigger an earlier effective date 120 days after issuance. Prospective issuers now have less than six months before the default start date without complete federal standards covering licensing, capital, liquidity, reserves, redemptions and operational controls.

Prudential And Compliance Rules Remain Proposed

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency released its main implementation proposal in March, covering permitted activities, reserve management, redemption, custody, applications and risk controls. The FDIC followed with prudential standards for issuers under its supervision, while the NCUA advanced a separate framework for credit union subsidiaries.

Several rulemaking windows remain open. Comments on the OCC’s anti-money laundering and sanctions proposal close July 24. The FDIC’s parallel proposal closes August 4, OCC reporting forms close August 11, and the joint customer-identification proposal from FinCEN and the federal banking agencies closes August 21.

State regulators are also building around an unfinished federal framework. New York has proposed formal stablecoin rules covering reserves, redemptions, custody, reporting and operational resilience, but state-qualified issuers still depend on federal standards for determining whether local supervision is substantially similar to the national regime.

Stablecoin Market Expands Before Rules Take Effect

Stablecoin supply stands near $310.1 billion, with Tether’s USDT at about $184.1 billion and Circle’s USDC near $73.4 billion. The two assets control more than four-fifths of total supply while prospective competitors wait for final licensing and compliance requirements.

Institutional infrastructure continues to expand. State Street launched a GENIUS Act-aligned reserve fund for stablecoin issuers and used a $1.9 trillion to $4 trillion global issuance range for 2030. Visa’s stablecoin settlement pilot has expanded to nine blockchains and a $7 billion annualized run rate, while Open USD is preparing to enter the market with more than 140 payments, banking, fintech and crypto partners.

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