The U.S. Treasury Department is moving ahead with rules that could reshape which stablecoins Americans can buy and use.
Treasury proposed rules Monday defining which stablecoins can be issued or sold in the U.S. under the GENIUS Act, giving crypto companies a clearer idea of what will be expected of them under the country’s new stablecoin framework.
The proposal puts Section 3 of the GENIUS Act into practice. The law, signed last summer, created a regulatory framework specifically for payment stablecoins. Treasury’s latest proposal focuses on turning that broad framework into rules that companies can actually follow.
One of the biggest changes involves who will be allowed to issue stablecoins in the U.S.
Stablecoin issuers face licensing rules from 2027
Starting Jan. 18, 2027, stablecoin issuers will generally need to obtain either a federal or state license to operate in the country.
That means companies will no longer be able to simply launch a dollar-pegged token and serve U.S. customers without meeting the required regulatory standards.
The proposal also covers stablecoins issued outside the U.S.
Foreign issuers could still have access to American customers, but they would have to meet certain conditions. Among them, the issuer would need to comply with U.S. legal orders and agreements between the United States and the country where it is regulated.
That could make the U.S. market considerably harder to access for offshore stablecoin companies that do not have strong regulatory ties to American authorities.
The rules also set out a later deadline that could have a major impact on crypto exchanges.
Starting July 18, 2028, crypto exchanges and other digital asset platforms would generally not be allowed to sell stablecoins to U.S. customers unless those tokens are issued by a permitted payment stablecoin issuer.
In other words, exchanges may eventually have to take a much closer look at which stablecoins they list.
For issuers, getting regulatory approval could become essential to staying in the U.S. market. For exchanges, it could mean delisting tokens that do not meet the new requirements.
Bessent says rules aim to boost U.S. crypto innovation
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the goal is to give businesses more certainty while encouraging innovation in the U.S.
“President Trump and Congress delivered the GENIUS Act,” Bessent wrote on X, calling it a landmark framework for payment stablecoins. He said the Treasury was moving quickly to put the law into effect.
There is also a bigger economic goal behind the push. Bessent said the rules could help strengthen the role of the U.S. dollar and support America’s position as a leader in crypto.
That makes sense given how closely stablecoins are tied to the dollar. Dollar-backed stablecoins are already widely used in crypto markets for trading, payments and moving money across blockchain networks.
A clearer regulatory framework could encourage more financial institutions and companies to build stablecoin products in the U.S., potentially increasing the use of dollar-based digital assets around the world.
But the trade-off is that the industry will face a much higher regulatory bar.
The Treasury is now asking the public and industry participants to submit feedback on the proposal before the rules are finalized.
For crypto companies, that feedback period will be important. The GENIUS Act has already established the basic framework; Treasury now has to determine how that framework works in the real world.
The end result could be a U.S. stablecoin market that is more regulated and predictable, but also one where only issuers willing and able to meet the new rules can compete for American customers.
