GENIUS Act (US Stablecoin Law)

Its full name is the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act. It started as bill S. 1582, which the Senate passed 68-30 and the House of Representatives 308-122.

When it applies. Under Sec. 20, it takes effect on the earlier of 18 months after enactment or 120 days after the primary federal regulators issue any final regulations implementing it. The first one, from the OCC, was published on October 23, 2026; since 120 days later falls on February 20, 2027, the OCC itself confirms that the Act takes effect on January 18, 2027. The Sec. 3(b)(1) restriction on platforms (digital asset service providers) comes 3 years after enactment: July 18, 2028.

Status as of October 31, 2026

• One final rule: the OCC's (91 FR 67000, October 23, 2026) for the issuers it supervises, effective January 18, 2027. Among other things, it caps redemption at two business days and sets minimum capital of $5 million.
• The rest are proposals: FDIC (3), Federal Reserve (2, with comments due November 30, 2026), NCUA (2), Treasury (2; the one on issuance, offer and sale closed for comments on October 19, 2026), FinCEN and OFAC (AML and sanctions), a joint customer identification rule and the OCC's own AML rule.
• One interim final rule from the Treasury, procedural, for the certification committee's review of state regimes, in force since September 30, 2026.
• Applications: the OCC will accept them once OMB approves its forms and will announce it in a bulletin.
• The one-year rulemaking deadline (Sec. 13(a)) passed on July 18, 2026 with no final rules. Last action verified in the Federal Register: October 29, 2026.

What it requires, from the effective date.

• Only permitted issuers may issue payment stablecoins in the U.S. (Sec. 3(a)); anyone who knowingly participates in a violation faces fines of up to $1,000,000 per violation, up to 5 years in prison, or both (Sec. 3(f)).
• The issuer cannot pay any form of interest or yield solely for holding, using or retaining the stablecoin (Sec. 4(a)(11)).
• Issuers of up to $10 billion may opt for a “substantially similar” state regime (Sec. 4(c)); above that, they must move to the federal framework within 360 days or stop issuing from the day they cross the threshold, unless the federal regulator grants a waiver (Sec. 4(d)).
• Payment stablecoins from permitted issuers will not be a “security” under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act and other federal laws, nor a “commodity” (Sec. 17). In turn, the definition of payment stablecoin excludes securities (Sec. 2(22)(B)(iii)).

Who can issue, which reserves and reports it requires, how it affects foreign issuers and how it relates to MiCA: see our GENIUS Act guide for stablecoin issuers.

Not to be confused with CLARITY. The CLARITY Act (Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, H.R. 3633), on market structure, is not law: the House passed it on July 17, 2025, and on September 15, 2026 the Senate failed to invoke cloture to take it up (49-50). Its Senate text proposes extending the interest ban to platforms and their affiliates (Sec. 404), but it is only a bill. More in stablecoin, in the European MiCA regime and in asset tokenization in the U.S.

Official sources: Public Law 119-27 (govinfo); OCC final rule 2026-21706; Treasury interim final rule 2026-19966; Treasury proposal 2026-16796; Federal Reserve proposal 2026-19860; H.R. 3633 status (govinfo).

Framework verified as of October 31, 2026. At Unknown Gravity we build tokenization infrastructure and smart contracts; we do not issue stablecoins, hold client funds or provide legal or investment advice. Talk to us.