To provide for the regulation of payment stablecoins, and for other purposes.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
Enrolled (Passed Congress)Read the second time and placed on the calendar
Passed Senate (inferred from es version)
Passed House (inferred from enr version)
Enrolled Bill (inferred from enr version)
Mr. Hagerty (for himself, Ms. Lummis, and Mr. Scott of …
On Passage
GENIUS Act
On Passage of the Bill S. 1582
S. 1582, As Amended
On the Cloture Motion S. 1582
Motion to Invoke Cloture: S. 1582
On the Amendment S.Amdt. 2307 to S. 1582 (No short title on file)
Amdt. No. 2307
On the Motion (Motion to Waive All Applicable Budgetary Discipline Re: Amdt. No. 2307)
Motion to Waive All Applicable Budgetary Discipline Re: Amdt. No. 2307
On the Motion to Table S.Amdt. 2310 to S. 1582 (No short title on file)
Motion to Table Amdt. No. 2310
On the Cloture Motion S. 1582
Motion to Invoke Cloture: Amdt. No. 2307 to S. 1582
On the Motion to Proceed S. 1582
Motion to Proceed to S. 1582
On Cloture on the Motion to Proceed S. 1582
Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Proceed to S. 1582
On Cloture on the Motion to Proceed S. 1582
Motion to Invoke Cloture: Motion to proceed to S. 1582
Summary
The GENIUS Act creates the first comprehensive federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins - digital assets designed to maintain a stable value relative to the U.S. dollar. Under this law, only licensed permitted issuers (either federally or state-chartered) can issue stablecoins in the United States. These issuers must maintain 100% reserves backing every stablecoin with high-quality liquid assets like Treasury bills, cash, or money market funds. They must also comply with anti-money laundering rules, publish monthly reserve reports verified by accountants, and have executives personally certify their accuracy. The bill explicitly states that compliant stablecoins are NOT securities or commodities, settling a major regulatory debate. Foreign stablecoin issuers can only operate in the U.S. if their home country has equivalent regulations and they register with U.S. regulators. In bankruptcy, stablecoin holders get priority over other creditors. The law gives primary regulatory authority to banking regulators (OCC, Fed, FDIC, NCUA) rather than the SEC or CFTC, while preserving Treasury sanctions enforcement powers.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
The GENIUS Act establishes a comprehensive federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins, requiring issuers to be permitted entities (insured depository institution subsidiaries, Federal qualified issuers, or State qualified issuers), maintain 1:1 reserves in specified high-quality liquid assets, and comply with anti-money laundering, consumer protection, and disclosure requirements.
Policy Domains
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_board"
- → Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Treasury
- "the_comptroller"
- → Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
- "the_corporation"
- → Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
- "primary_federal_payment_stablecoin_regulator"
- → Appropriate Federal banking agency, NCUA, FDIC, OCC, or Federal Reserve depending on issuer type
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Treasury
- "digital_asset_service_provider"
- → Entities exchanging, transferring, or providing custody for digital assets
- "primary_federal_payment_stablecoin_regulator"
- → Federal regulator with authority over the issuer type
- "the_board"
- → Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Treasury
- "the_comptroller"
- → Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
- "the_corporation"
- → Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
- "state_payment_stablecoin_regulator"
- → State agency with primary regulatory authority over stablecoin issuers in that state
- "permitted_payment_stablecoin_issuer"
- → Licensed entity authorized to issue payment stablecoins
- "primary_federal_payment_stablecoin_regulator"
- → Federal regulator with authority over the issuer type
- "the_comptroller"
- → Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
- "primary_federal_payment_stablecoin_regulator"
- → Federal regulator processing applications
- "institution_affiliated_party"
- → Directors, officers, employees, or controlling stockholders of permitted issuers
- "primary_federal_payment_stablecoin_regulator"
- → Federal regulator with supervisory authority
- "the_board"
- → Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
- "the_comptroller"
- → Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
- "state_payment_stablecoin_regulator"
- → State agency with primary regulatory authority
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Treasury
- "foreign_payment_stablecoin_issuer"
- → Stablecoin issuer organized outside the United States
- "custodian"
- → Entity providing custody services for stablecoin reserves
- "the_board"
- → Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
- "the_comptroller"
- → Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
- "the_corporation"
- → Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
- "payment_stablecoin_holder"
- → Holder of stablecoins with priority claim
- "permitted_payment_stablecoin_issuer"
- → Licensed entity in insolvency
- "nist"
- → National Institute of Standards and Technology
- "primary_federal_payment_stablecoin_regulator"
- → Federal regulators setting standards
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Treasury
- "state_payment_stablecoin_regulator"
- → State regulators promulgating rules
- "primary_federal_payment_stablecoin_regulator"
- → Federal regulators promulgating rules
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Treasury
- "financial_stability_oversight_council"
- → FSOC
- "primary_federal_payment_stablecoin_regulator"
- → Federal regulators
- "depository_institution"
- → Banks, credit unions, trust companies
- "appropriate_federal_banking_agency"
- → OCC, Federal Reserve, FDIC as applicable
- "sec"
- → Securities and Exchange Commission (implicitly affected)
- "cftc"
- → Commodity Futures Trading Commission (implicitly affected)
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Treasury
- "the_comptroller"
- → Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
- "foreign_payment_stablecoin_issuer"
- → Issuer organized in foreign jurisdiction
- "stablecoin_certification_review_committee"
- → Committee chaired by Treasury Secretary with Fed Chair and FDIC Chair
Note: {'term': 'The Secretary', 'resolution': 'Throughout the bill, The Secretary refers to the Secretary of the Treasury unless otherwise specified.'}
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
This Act may be cited as the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act).
Permitted reserves include: US currency, Federal Reserve account balances, demand deposits at insured depository institutions, Treasury bills/notes/bonds with 93 days or less maturity, overnight repurchase agreements backed by Treasury bills, overnight reverse repos collateralized by Treasury securities, government money market funds, other liquid Federal assets approved by regulator, and tokenized versions of the above.
A final valid order under Federal law from a court or authorized Federal agency requiring a person to seize, freeze, burn, or prevent transfer of payment stablecoins, with reasonable particularity and subject to judicial review.
Any digital representation of value that is recorded on a cryptographically secured distributed ledger.
An entity legally established under State law and approved by a State payment stablecoin regulator to issue stablecoins, excluding uninsured national banks, Federal branches, insured depository institutions, or their subsidiaries.
A person formed in the United States that is: (1) a subsidiary of an insured depository institution approved under section 5, (2) a Federal qualified payment stablecoin issuer, or (3) a State qualified payment stablecoin issuer.
A nonbank entity approved by the Comptroller to issue payment stablecoins, an uninsured national bank chartered by OCC and approved to issue stablecoins, or a Federal branch approved to issue stablecoins.
A digital asset designed for payment or settlement, where the issuer is obligated to convert/redeem for a fixed amount of monetary value and represents it will maintain stable value relative to monetary value. Excludes national currency, deposits, and securities.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology