The statute’s new regulatory framework for payment stablecoins paves the way for increased digital asset adoption and innovation.

On July 18, 2025, President Trump signed into law the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act (the GENIUS Act), legislation that establishes a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins. It is the first federal legislation on digital assets to be enacted since President Trump issued an executive order aiming to make the US the “crypto capital of the world.”

First introduced in the Senate on February 4, 2025, the bill overcame procedural hurdles to pass with bipartisan support in the Senate on June 17, 2025 (by a vote of 68 to 30) and the House of Representatives on July 17, 2025 (by a vote of 308 to 122).

Key Points

  • The GENIUS Act, the US’s first federal legislation on digital assets, establishes a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins. Insured depository institution and insured credit union subsidiaries that issue payment stablecoins are subject to the regulatory oversight of their primary financial regulator, and federally licensed nonbank stablecoin issuers are subject to oversight by the OCC. A payment stablecoin issued by a permitted payment stablecoin issuer is not a “security” under the US federal securities laws or a “commodity” under the Commodity Exchange Act, and therefore is not subject to the oversight of the SEC or CFTC.
  • The GENIUS Act prohibits any person other than a permitted payment stablecoin issuer from issuing a payment stablecoin in the US. Digital asset service providers may not offer or sell a payment stablecoin to a person in the US unless the payment stablecoin is issued by a permitted payment stablecoin issuer (with an exception for payment stablecoins issued by certain compliant foreign payment stablecoin issuers).
  • The GENIUS Act takes effect on the earlier of (i) 18 months after its enactment or (ii) 120 days after the primary federal stablecoin regulators issue final regulations implementing the Act.

For an overview of the GENIUS Act’s key provisions as well as a preview of other digital asset bills continuing to work their way through Congress, see our Client Alert.