The GENIUS Act gave US regulators a single, clearly marked deadline: finalize stablecoin rules within one year of enactment. That year expired on July 18, 2026. The rules did not arrive.
Not one of the federal agencies tasked with implementing the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act, the first comprehensive federal legislation for payment stablecoins, managed to issue final regulations by the statutory deadline. The Federal Reserve, OCC, FDIC, NCUA, and Treasury all had a seat at the table. None delivered a finished product.
A year of advance notices and not much else
The GENIUS Act was signed into law by President Trump on July 18, 2025, after months of congressional wrangling over how to bring payment stablecoins under a federal regulatory umbrella. The legislation laid out core requirements: full 1:1 reserve backing in US dollars or equivalent safe assets, licensing frameworks for issuers, anti-money laundering compliance programs, and public disclosure mandates.
Treasury moved first, publishing an advance notice of proposed rulemaking in September 2025, with a public comment period that closed in November 2025. Other agencies followed with their own preliminary proposals and information requests through late 2025 and into 2026. But advance notices are the regulatory equivalent of saying “we’re thinking about it.” They are not rules. They carry no binding force.
