US regulators miss GENIUS Act deadline, stablecoin rulemaking stalls

The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act was signed by President Donald Trump on July 18 2025 and required the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Treasury, the Federal Reserve and the National Credit Union Administration to issue implementing regulations within one year. All five agencies released notices of proposed rulemaking, but no final rules were issued by the July 18 2026 deadline, prompting industry observers to note a “regulatory vacuum.”

Despite the missing rules, the stablecoin market continued to grow, reaching just over $300 billion in total supply, with Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC accounting for roughly 83 % of circulation. New issuers such as PayPal’s PYUSD, BlackRock’s BUIDL, Ripple’s RLUSD and Paxos’s USDG launched during the year, while Tether announced a separate “USA₮” token to meet GENIUS Act requirements for the U.S. market. Banks have called for a revision of the draft rules, and the law’s effective date remains set for January 18 2027 (or July 18 2028 for issuers to become permitted payment stablecoin issuers). The missed deadline leaves issuers operating under draft standards and heightens uncertainty for the sector.