Money & Finance › Currencies, the dollar & crypto › GENIUS Act (2025): the federal law for payment stablecoins
Who may issue payment stablecoins, and who supervises them
In force by Jan 18, 2027· Law or rule
Fact, law or dataA rule, statute, definition or measured number.
Under the GENIUS Act, only bank subsidiaries, OCC-licensed nonbanks or smaller state-licensed firms may issue payment stablecoins to Americans.
See it on the Money & Finance map →How it works
There are three routes. A subsidiary of an insured bank or credit union is approved by its usual regulator: the Fed, FDIC, OCC or NCUA. A nonbank gets a federal license from the OCC. An issuer with $10 billion or less outstanding may choose a state regime certified as 'substantially similar'. Foreign issuers need a comparable home regime and OCC registration. Public companies outside finance, such as Big Tech firms, need unanimous approval from a committee of the Treasury Secretary, Fed Chair and FDIC Chair.
Why it matters
It decides who earns the interest on reserves: banks, crypto firms, fintechs or retailers. The state route lets smaller issuers start without a federal license.
Facts, rules and data
The GENIUS Act's issuer provisions; the OCC's February 2026 proposed licensing rule; FDIC and NCUA proposals for bank and credit-union subsidiaries.
Debates and risks
How fast licenses will be granted once the law takes effect in January 2027, and whether state regimes will really match federal standards.
Connections (2)
▸Who may issue payment stablecoins, and who supervises them are defined by GENIUS Act (2025): the federal law for payment stablecoinsFact, law or data
The connection
The act limits issuance to three kinds of permitted issuers, bank subsidiaries, OCC-licensed nonbanks and qualified state issuers, and names each one's supervisor. Anyone else who issues a payment stablecoin to US users faces penalties, and from July 2028 US platforms may not offer non-permitted tokens.
When and why
The GENIUS Act of July 2025, with licensing to begin once it takes effect, by January 2027.
How we know
The statute's text and the OCC, FDIC and NCUA proposed rules on applications.
Debates and risks
How regulators will treat firms already operating, and how long licensing will take in practice.
▸Who may issue payment stablecoins, and who supervises them include subsidiaries of Commercial banks: taking deposits, making loansFact, law or data
The connection
Insured banks and credit unions may issue stablecoins through subsidiaries approved by their usual regulator. That lets banks compete with crypto firms and keep customers' money inside the bank's group. Several big banks prefer 'tokenized deposits', such as JPMorgan's JPMD, which remain bank deposits and can pay interest.
When and why
From 2025; large US banks discussed a joint stablecoin, while regional banks explored their own.
How we know
The act's text, the FDIC's and NCUA's proposed rules for subsidiaries, and banks' own announcements.
Debates and risks
Whether stablecoins pull deposits from banks, especially community banks that use them to fund local loans.