U.S. regulators have missed a key deadline in the rollout of the GENIUS Act, leaving several core stablecoin rules unfinished and shortening the window for issuers to prepare for federal oversight.
What happened
- The GENIUS Act, signed by President Donald Trump on July 18, 2025, required federal regulators to issue implementing rules within one year. That one-year deadline — July 18, 2026 — has passed without finalization of several major rule packages.
- The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) launched its primary rulemaking earlier this year but only published proposed GENIUS Act rules in February. Those proposals address reserve assets, redemptions, capital, liquidity, custody and risk management for issuers it would supervise.
- The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) put forward its own framework in April covering reserve requirements, capital, redemptions, custody and risk controls for issuers tied to FDIC-supervised banks, but its rules remain incomplete.
- The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) also has a standards proposal still in consultation near the statutory deadline.
Outstanding rule areas
- Customer identification and Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) treatment: a joint federal proposal would require covered stablecoin issuers to verify and record customer identities and treat permitted issuers as financial institutions under BSA rules. The public comment period for this proposal extends past the July 18 deadline, preventing completion beforehand.
- Anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance: the Treasury Department issued a proposal in April, and the FDIC released related requirements for issuers under its supervision. These rules are still under development.
- State “substantially similar” certification: the GENIUS Act allows smaller issuers to operate under state supervision if state frameworks are certified as “substantially similar” to federal standards. Treasury proposed the certification process in April but has not finalized it. A bipartisan group of senators has urged Treasury to preserve the role of state regulators and to provide clearer certification timelines.
- State-level alignment: New York has proposed updates to align its rules with the federal framework as it prepares to seek recognition under GENIUS.
Coordination concerns
Major banking groups previously urged regulators to coordinate the GENIUS Act rule sets, arguing the proposals are interlinked and should not advance piecemeal. That coordination request remains a live issue as agencies continue to work on overlapping requirements.
Implications for the industry
- Missing the July 18 deadline does not automatically delay the GENIUS Act’s effective date. The law is slated to take effect by January 18, 2027, unless final rules trigger an earlier start under the statute’s implementation timetable.
- Nevertheless, the missed deadline compresses the time between final rule publication and the act’s start date, leaving prospective stablecoin issuers to prepare for a federal framework while several significant details can still change. Firms will ultimately need to adapt reserve management, customer verification, redemption processes and compliance systems to meet the finalized rules.
What to watch next
- Final versions of the OCC, FDIC and Treasury proposals.
- The outcome of the BSA/customer ID and AML/sanctions rulemakings.
- Treasury guidance and timelines for state certification, and whether states such as New York secure recognition.
- Any interagency coordination announcements in response to industry calls for harmonized rules.
As regulators move through public comments and interagency consultations, the stablecoin sector faces continued uncertainty — but also a clearer path toward federal oversight once the outstanding rules are finalized.
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