The U.S. Treasury has opened a public consultation to implement the GENIUS Act (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins), the first federal law in the United States to set specific rules for issuing and using stablecoins.
📌 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐔𝐒 𝐀𝐜𝐭 ● Legal status and perimeter. Removes stablecoins from the definitions of securities and commodities; ● Ban on issuer yield. Stablecoin issuers may not pay interest/remuneration for merely holding the token. ● Backing. Stablecoins must be fully backed by high-quality assets (USD, T-Bills and/or other instruments). ● BSA/AML and sanctions. Issuers are subject to the Bank Secrecy Act, with KYC/AML, record-keeping and an expectation of compliance with U.S. economic sanctions. ● Prudential and risk management aspects. Capital, liquidity and risk management rules, aligned with a "bank-like" design for licensed issuers. ● Interoperability. The regulatory architecture signals standards of compatibility and interoperability with other stablecoin issuers and the broader digital financial ecosystem, including accepted communication protocols and blockchains, whether permissioned or public.
🌍 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 Although limited to the United States, the framework is likely to serve as an international model, encouraging regulatory harmonization and raising the bar for trust in 24/7 digital payments and remittances using USD-backed stablecoins.
💱 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 Stablecoins connect electronic money to instant payments, with the potential to reduce costs and broaden reach, especially given the legal certainty the GENIUS Act brings through parity, governance and compliance.
The GENIUS Act signals that the era of regulated stablecoins has arrived, and its lessons will be watched well beyond U.S. borders.
Authors: Roberto Panucci, Tiago Severo Gomes and Marcelo De Callis
