The GENIUS Act gave stablecoins a legal home — now regulators are deciding who can afford to live there.

Stablecoin issuers spent years lobbying Washington for a federal framework, and the GENIUS Act delivered one: defined payment stablecoins, reserve requirements, and a clear legal status in the US. That was a genuine win. But with Treasury, the OCC, and the FDIC now translating the law into operating rules, the compliance cost of that legal home is becoming visible.

Treasury's April proposal targets AML programs, sanctions screening, suspicious-activity monitoring, and Bank Secrecy Act obligations — meaning a serious issuer will need risk systems, audit trails, trained staff, and board-level accountability. The OCC is building the federal lane for national trust charters and custody authority; the FDIC is covering reserves, redemptions, capital, and liquidity for bank-supervised issuers. The GENIUS Act takes effect January 18, 2027, or 120 days after final rules, whichever comes…