GENIUS Act regulation
Overview
The GENIUS Act (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act) is the first US federal law regulating payment stablecoins, signed by President Trump on July 18, 2025 after passing the Senate 68-30 and the House 308-122. It requires 100% reserve backing in cash and short-term Treasuries with monthly public reserve disclosures, and limits issuance to permitted issuers such as bank subsidiaries and OCC-supervised nonbanks. It takes effect on the earlier of January 18, 2027 or 120 days after final implementing regulations.
Within the DeFi Intel graph, GENIUS Act connects to 15 tracked entities, most strongly to SEC, United States, United States.
Relations
Top connections in the DeFi Intel knowledge graph (confidence-weighted, 10 of 15 total).
| Relation | Connected entity | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
regulated_by | SEC | 95% |
applies_in | United States | 95% |
governs | United States | 95% |
complies_with | USAT | 95% |
proposed_by | Cynthia Lummis | 93% |
proposed_by | Bill Hagerty | 93% |
proposed_by | Kirsten Gillibrand | 92% |
regulated_by | CFTC | 90% |
complies_with | USD Coin | 85% |
regulates | Securities and Exchange Commission | 85% |
Frequently asked questions
What does GENIUS stand for?
Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins.
When was the GENIUS Act signed into law?
President Trump signed it on 18 July 2025, after Senate passage on 17 June and House passage on 17 July 2025.
What compliance capability must issuers have?
Issuers must be technically able to seize, freeze or burn payment stablecoins and must comply with lawful orders to do so.
Sources
Facts on this page were verified against the following sources.