GENIUS Act: Treasury opens 60-day stablecoin rule comment

The U.S. Treasury Department on Monday opened a 60-day public comment window on how it will implement Section 3 of the GENIUS Act, the landmark stablecoin legislation signed into law in July 2025. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking asks industry and other stakeholders to define when a stablecoin is considered "issued in the United States" and when an issuer or digital asset service provider is "offering or selling" payment stablecoins to U.S. persons. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent framed the move as the next step in delivering "clear rules of the road" for the stablecoin sector ahead of the law's January 18, 2027 effective date.

Why it matters

The GENIUS Act is the first significant federal crypto legislation, and Treasury's rulemaking is the bridge between the statute on the books and the operating reality for issuers, exchanges, and wallet providers. The proposed rules focus on three friction points: the geographic test for what counts as U.S. issuance, the licensing path for entities that want to issue payment stablecoins domestically, and the conditions under which foreign-issued stablecoins can be offered to U.S. persons. Beginning July 18, 2028, digital asset service providers will not be permitted to offer or sell payment stablecoins to U.S. persons unless the tokens come from a licensed issuer, making the next two comment cycles effectively the rule book for who can compete in the U.S. market.

Market impact

The rulemaking lands as Treasury and the White House push to cement dollar-denominated stablecoins as a core piece of U.S. monetary infrastructure. Bessent's statement explicitly tied the framework to cementing the dollar's reserve currency status and keeping the U.S. the "crypto capital of the world," a political signal that the comment period will shape more than compliance boilerplate. For issuers, the comment window is the last cheap opportunity to lobby on the licensing threshold before compliance becomes binding. Foreign issuers that cannot satisfy U.S. legal-order and reciprocal-arrangement requirements face a de facto U.S.