The stablecoin industry just quietly became one of the most profitable corners of regulated finance, and most people missed the memo.
The GENIUS Act, signed into law on July 18, 2025, established the first comprehensive federal framework for payment stablecoins in the US. Buried inside the regulatory fine print is a mechanism that could generate roughly $10 billion in annual income for stablecoin issuers, at current market rates.
Here’s the thing: none of that yield goes to the people actually holding the stablecoins. It goes to the issuers.
How a compliance rule became a profit engine
The Act requires stablecoin issuers to back every token in circulation with a 1:1 reserve of high-quality assets. Think cash, short-term US Treasuries, and similar instruments.
