Three months after the landmark U.S. stablecoin legislation was signed into law, the bill is still in a public comment period.<\/p>\n
When the GENIUS Act<\/a> was signed into law on July 18, 2025, the crypto industry hailed it as a significant piece of legislation globally, proposing federal regulations for stablecoins<\/a> in the United States. <\/p>\n Just over three months later, GENIUS has yet to go into effect \u2014\u00a0meaning that no stablecoin or stablecoin issuer is actively regulated by the it \u2014 even as established and new players position themselves to comply with the upcoming rules.<\/p>\n Despite that, Anchorage Digital Bank, known for being the only crypto-focused bank<\/a> with a charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), announced<\/a> earlier this month that it would be issuing “America\u2019s first federally regulated stablecoin,” USDtb, in partnership with Ethena Labs<\/a>, the issuer of synthetic dollar asset USDe<\/a>.<\/p>\n Originally launched by Ethena Labs in December 2024, USDtb is backed largely by BlackRock’s<\/a> tokenized U.S. Treasury fund, BUIDL, which has over $2.8 billion in assets, per RWAxyz<\/a>. The stablecoin was previously issued outside of the U.S., with Ethena Labs handling minting and redemptions.<\/p>\n In an Oct. 13 post on X, Ethena confirmed<\/a> that it had transitioned the USDtb smart contract to Anchorage Digital, calling it a \u201cmonumental onshoring making USDtb the first federally-regulated stablecoin issued in a compliant manner under the GENIUS Act.\u201d<\/p>\n But competitors and onlookers caution that it\u2019s technically still early for such statements, arguing that the claims risk misleading investors in \u201clow-information environments.\u201d<\/p>\n As legal and industry observers caution, \u201conshoring\u201d USDtb via a regulated firm like Anchorage is not the same as statutory approval under a particular law. <\/p>\n Facundo Werning, head of LATAM at stablecoin startup Agora, pointed out<\/a> in an Oct. 14 post on X that \u201cno one is regulated by GENIUS,\u201d since the act, while law, hasn\u2019t yet gone into effect. <\/p>\n In commentary to The Defiant, Nicole Dyskant, co-founder RegDoor, an agentic policy platform that helps regulated entities meet complex requirements, explained that despite being signed into law, details as to how the GENIUS Act will be implemented remain unclear. <\/p>\n As Dyskant notes, just last month, the U.S. Treasury published<\/a> an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to gather public feedback on how the law should be implemented, following a separate request for comment in August<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cThe public comment period runs until November 4, 2025, after which the agencies will draft and release final regulations. The GENIUS Act will officially take effect either 120 days after those final rules are published or 18 months after enactment, whichever comes first. Until then, it remains a legal framework awaiting activation rather than a fully functioning regime,\u201d Dyskant clarified to The Defiant.<\/p>\n Analyses from late July by U.S. law firms including WilmerHale<\/a>, Latham & Watkins<\/a>, and DLA Piper<\/a> emphasize that only an approved \u201cpermitted payment stablecoin issuer\u201d (PPSI) may issue or market a payment stablecoin in the U.S., and that those approvals can\u2019t exist until rulemaking is complete. Until then, the GENIUS isn\u2019t yet an active regulatory regime.<\/p>\n Zach Rosenberg, general counsel at Ethena Labs, acknowledged<\/a> that limitation in a reply on X, confirming that GENIUS indeed \u201cdoes not currently regulate anyone.\u201d He clarified that Ethena\u2019s statement about operating \u201cin a compliant manner under the GENIUS Act\u201d meant the company is structuring USDtb in accordance with the law\u2019s provisions, not that it is already regulated under the act.<\/p>\n Dyskant explained that the wording used by firms like Ethena Labs and Anchorage should be interpreted more as their intention or aspiration, rather than strictly as legal claims:<\/p>\n \u201cSome issuers may use \u2018GENIUS-ready\u2019 or \u2018GENIUS-aligned\u2019 language in their marketing, meaning they intend or are design to meet the law\u2019s expected standards (such as 1:1 reserve backing, transparent disclosures, and federal oversight). Thus, those claims are more aspirational rather than legally certified, because there is currently no official licensing or approval process under the Act.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n But what about Circle\u2019s USDC? The second-largest stablecoin globally, and the largest U.S.-issued stablecoin, USDC has long been considered the most legally cautious<\/a> and transparent USD stablecoin, with regular reserve attestations and U.S. banking relationships.<\/p>\nQuestions on Implementation<\/h2>\n
Other Players<\/h2>\n