Definition
The GENIUS Act (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins) is federal legislation signed July 2025 establishing reserve requirements and eligible asset frameworks for payment stablecoin issuers in the United States.
Key Points
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2026-07: wise says it will reapply for national trust charter under GENIUS Act framework after OCC denial (2026-07-24-wise-occ-trust-charter-denied)
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2026-07-18: Agencies miss statutory rulemaking deadline — no coordinated finals; Jan 18, 2027 backstop remains (2026-07-18-genius-act-agencies-miss-july-18-deadline, 2026-07-18-genius-act-clearingpost-miss)
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Comment periods (OCC/FDIC/joint CIP) extend into late July–August; not an issuer illegality event
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Eligible reserves: Cash, short-term U.S. Treasuries (≤93 days), overnight Treasury-collateralized repo
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Institutional response: invesco, blackrock, State Street filing Rule 2a-7 money market funds for stablecoin reserves
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Implementation: OCC national trust bank charters accelerating — circle final approval July 10, 2026; sony-bank conditional approval for connectia-trust
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2026-07-18 deadline: Seven agencies must publish final implementing rules; as of July 12 no final rules published (2026-07-12-genius-act-financemagnates-deadline)
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Draft signals: $5M capital floor (OCC), 10% same-day / 30% five-day redemption liquidity, BSA/AML, no deposit insurance for holders (FDIC)
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Effective date: Earlier of January 18, 2027 or 120 days after final rules (2026-07-12-genius-act-chapman-rulemaking-tracker)
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State path: Treasury April NPRM defines “substantially similar” test for issuers ≤$10B — see dual-banking-system
Related
- ncua
- fdic
- occ
- stablecoin
- stablecoin-regulation
- us-crypto-policy
- circle
- sony-bank
- connectia-trust
- genius-act-agencies-miss-july-18-deadline
- industrial-bank-charter
- tokenization