On July 17, 2025, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the GENIUS Act1 (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins) in a bipartisan vote of 308–122, marking a significant moment in cryptocurrency regulation in the U.S. After facing scrutiny from Republicans and Democrats alike, the Act, which had already cleared the Senate with a 68–30 vote in June, was signed into law by President Trump on July 18, 2025. Designed to bring clarity and oversight to the stablecoin market, the GENIUS Act requires stablecoins to be fully backed by liquid assets, mandates monthly public reserve disclosures, and introduces a dual licensing framework that allows both state and federal regulators to supervise issuers. The legislation is seen as a compromise that satisfies both innovation advocates and financial watchdogs, offering a regulated path forward for stables.
The Act sets a structured rollout for implementation of various stablecoin regulatory oversight. Federal regulators will have up to a year to develop the rules, with core provisions taking effect either 18 months after enactment or 120 days following final rule publication. Treasury was also required to take steps to expand anti–money-laundering standards within 30 days(and for the following 60 days), and states seeking to license stablecoin issuers must align with new guidelines within a year. The law gives custodians and service providers up to three years to come into full compliance. As the crypto industry watches closely, the GENIUS Act signals a massive shift: the first major U.S. law specifically crafted to regulate stablecoins.
On August 18, 2025 the Department of Treasury issued a Request for Comment2 on the Act on a wide variety of topics including innovative or novel methods, techniques, or strategies that regulated financial institutions use, or could potentially use to detect illicit activity involving digital assets. The Department is specifically asking for comments about API’s, AI, digital identity verification, and use of other blockchain technologies and monitoring. The comment period will remain open until October 17, 2025.
Despite competing bills from the Senate and the House, months of uncertainty as to whether either version of the crypto bill would pass, and opposition from the government and industry insiders alike, a regulated crypto market within the United States is beginning to take shape after years of calls for the federal government to act. Passage and implementation of the Act is likely to trigger increased interest, adoption, and ingenuity in the crypto industry as insiders and newcomers prepare for anew stage of crypto in the US.
1 https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1582
2 https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0228
