The GENIUS Act’s $250M battle begins now: Bitcoin stands as the last bastion against censorship
The GENIUS Act grew to become legislation on July 18 after Congress settled that stablecoins ought to be regulated.
What occurs subsequent is a two-year rulemaking battle that determines whether or not $250 billion in present stablecoins flows into bank-wrapped buildings or fragments into offshore silos, and whether or not Bitcoin and Ethereum seize the fallout or get buried underneath it.
Justin Slaughter, Paradigm’s VP of regulatory affairs, said on Nov. 6:
“Little recognized reality—after the laws is enacted, the actual battle begins.”
His agency simply filed feedback on the Treasury’s advance discover of proposed rulemaking. The central struggle is whether or not associates of stablecoin issuers pay yield to holders by separate merchandise, and Congress already determined they will. Yet, Treasury would possibly attempt to rewrite that.
The skill to supply yield by way of wrappers is the place the subsequent battle will happen. If regulators win, stablecoins turn into neutered financial institution merchandise. If the trade wins, they compete with banks on charges.
Although the legislation is finished, the guidelines usually are not. And the guidelines resolve all the pieces.
When compliance turns into obligatory
GENIUS builds a fringe over three years, then locks the gates. The framework takes impact on Jan. 18, 2027, or 120 days after the ultimate rules are printed, whichever comes first.
Federal businesses have one 12 months from enactment to concern these rules.
A 3-year grace interval expires July 18, 2028. After that, US exchanges, custodians, and most DeFi entrance ends can not supply “cost stablecoins” until a permitted cost stablecoin issuer or a Treasury-blessed international equal points them.
Issuers underneath $10 billion can use permitted state regimes, whereas bigger issuers should migrate into the federal observe. Foreign issuers want “comparable regime” determinations, OCC registration, and US-held reserves.
This timeline implies that regulators will publish the rulebook by early 2027. By mid-2028, anybody touching US prospects will both comply or exit.
What “into banks” truly means
GENIUS defines a protected class referred to as “cost stablecoins” and restricts US distribution to cash issued by permitted issuers.
Those issuers have to be financial institution subsidiaries, federally licensed nonbanks supervised by the OCC, or state-qualified entities underneath tight federal oversight.
Reserves have to be held in money, financial institution deposits, or T-bills, with no rehypothecation allowed. Disclosures submissions are made month-to-month, and issuers have to be compliant with full prudential supervision, as effectively as BSA/AML compliance.
The cash are pulled right into a banking-style regulatory perimeter with out being referred to as banks.
For the $304 billion stablecoin market, this creates a fork. US-touching liquidity migrates into bank-like wrappers, whereas all the pieces else will get fenced off.
Offshore issuers can exist globally, however US platforms will drop them to keep away from legal responsibility. There is $300 billion at stake, break up between entities that meet federal requirements and people that don’t.
The rulemaking struggle: yield, definitions, and scope
Slaughter’s remark zeroes in on affiliate yield. GENIUS prohibits issuers from paying curiosity however says nothing about associates doing so. Paradigm argues that banning affiliate yield would violate the statute’s plain language.
This issues as a result of, if associates will pay aggressive charges, customers get high-yield financial savings accounts with prompt settlement. That creates strain on banks truly to return curiosity.
If regulators block affiliate yield, stablecoins turn into worse than financial institution deposits, with a full compliance burden, however no upside.
Other battlegrounds embrace the definition of the time period “digital asset service supplier” and whether or not DeFi protocols are exempt from statutory carve-outs, as effectively as what constitutes a “comparable regime” for international issuers.
Regulators might implement GENIUS as written or twist it into financial institution protectionism that chokes something not carrying a federal constitution.
Winners and losers
Large US banks and quasi-bank stablecoin issuers emerge as winners. GENIUS creates the first clear federal pathway for regulated establishments to concern greenback tokens with preemption over state guidelines.
Circle, Paxos, and PayPal rush to safe permitted issuer standing. The expectation is that main banks will launch tokenized deposits and transfer immediately onto public blockchains, moderately than staying behind with ACH.
The US greenback and Treasury market additionally win. GENIUS mandates one-to-one backing in T-bills, making each compliant stablecoin successfully a mini T-bill fund. If this scales into the trillions, it deepens international demand for US debt.
Ethereum and layer-2 blockchains seize settlement infrastructure. US-regulated issuers overwhelmingly select mature EVM environments.
According to rwa.xyz, Ethereum, zkSync, and Polygon have the largest participations on the real-world asset (RWA) market, amounting to $15.7 billion (44%).
Ethereum turns into the impartial rail for bank-grade greenback tokens, gaining price circulate and legitimacy as “regulated plumbing.” A big, compliant tier of DeFi builds on permitted stablecoins, coexisting with the permissionless international layer.
On the different hand, offshore issuers lose US distribution. After mid-2028, US platforms won’t be able to supply any “cost stablecoin” that’s not issued by a permitted issuer. Tether and related gamers can serve non-US prospects however lose seamless integration with Coinbase, Kraken, or main US venues.
Smaller or experimental issuers get crushed. Algorithmic stablecoins, undercollateralized experiments, and thinly capitalized startups both pivot into area of interest markets or shut down.
As a outcome, DeFi faces a break up. GENIUS exempts underlying protocols and self-custody, however rulemaking will outline what counts as “providing” to US individuals.
If regulators stretch definitions, massive elements of DeFi both filter to permitted-stablecoin-only swimming pools for US site visitors or drift into geofenced offshore silos.
How flows reroute
The first part, from now to mid-2026, is characterised as a positioning interval. Issuers and banks foyer over eligible reserves, international comparability, affiliate yield, and definitions. Draft guidelines flow into, and trade war-games compliance paths.
The second part, spanning 2026 and 2027, is when regulatory sorting takes place. Final guidelines are launched, early approvals are granted to massive, compliant entities, and names are revealed. US platforms migrate quantity towards “soon-to-be permitted” cash, whereas noncompliant issuers file, geo-fence US customers, or lean into offshore venues.
The third part, spanning from 2027 to 2028, is the hardening of routes. US-facing exchanges, brokers, and plenty of DeFi entrance ends primarily record permitted stablecoins, with potential for deeper liquidity on Ethereum and layer-2 blockchains.
Noncompliant stablecoins persist on offshore exchanges and gray-market DeFi however lose connectivity to totally regulated US rails.
The anticipated result’s a bigger share of “crypto {dollars}” changing into absolutely reserved, supervised, KYC’d, and sitting inside or adjoining to financial institution stability sheets. On-chain settlement begins to look much less like a pirate market and extra like Fedwire with APIs.
| Stage | Date / Window | Key Action | Lead Agencies & Milestones |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passage (GENIUS Act turns into legislation) | July 18, 2025 | GENIUS Act (Public Law 119–27) signed. Establishes “permitted cost stablecoin issuer” regime, bans yield on cost stablecoins, units 3-year distribution clock, and hardwires the efficient date as the earlier of (i) 18 months after enactment or (ii) 120 days after ultimate regs by major regulators. | Treasury + “major Federal cost stablecoin regulators” (Fed, OCC, FDIC, NCUA) are formally tasked with constructing the rulebook (Section 13). |
| ANPRM – Implementation Kickoff | Sept 19, 2025 | Treasury points Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) on GENIUS Act implementation. It asks detailed questions on issuer eligibility, reserves, international/comparable regimes, illicit finance, tax, insurance coverage, and knowledge—that is the opening shot in defining how strict or versatile GENIUS can be. | Treasury leads docket TREAS-DO-2025-0037 and alerts coordination with Fed, OCC, FDIC, NCUA, and state regulators. Those businesses start inner workstreams (FSOC/FDIC/NCUA speeches flag GENIUS implementation as a precedence). |
| Proposed Rules (NPRMs) | Expected 1H 2026 | Next step: Treasury plus every major regulator publish proposed guidelines (NPRMs) translating GENIUS into concrete necessities: licensing requirements for PPSIs, capital/liquidity, reserve composition, examinations, international issuer “comparability,” and circumstances for digital asset service suppliers. These should come early sufficient to finalize inside the statutory one-year rulemaking window. | Statute (Sec. 13) requires Treasury, Fed, OCC, FDIC, NCUA, and state regulators to “promulgate rules” inside 1 12 months of enactment → sensible strain to get NPRMs out in early 2026 so finals can land by July 18, 2026. This is the core battleground Justin Slaughter & others are pointing to. |
| Final Rules | Statutory deadline: by July 18, 2026 | Final rules by the “major Federal cost stablecoin regulators” + Treasury lock in who is usually a PPSI, how reserves work, supervision expectations, and the way international and state regimes are acknowledged. These ultimate guidelines additionally begin the 120-day clock that may speed up GENIUS’s efficient date. | Fed, OCC, FDIC, NCUA every finalize regs for issuers underneath their jurisdiction; Treasury finalizes cross-cutting guidelines (protected harbors, comparability, illicit finance). Collectively, these guidelines are what can begin the effective-date countdown underneath Sec. 20. |
| Earliest GENIUS Effective Date | Earlier of: (a) Jan 18, 2027 (18 months after enactment), or (b) 120 days after ultimate regs | GENIUS framework (and amendments) “activate” at whichever comes first. If regulators slip on ultimate guidelines, the 18-month mark (Jan 18, 2027) turns into the default efficient date. If they transfer quick and finalize early, the 120-day rule can pull the efficient date ahead. | Practically: that is the pivot level your article ought to spotlight—when stablecoin issuance and U.S.-facing distribution should start lining up with PPSI guidelines, and when markets begin rerouting towards bank-like, GENIUS-compliant |
What it means for Bitcoin and Ethereum
For Bitcoin, GENIUS is a story tailwind. As stablecoins turn into extra bank-like and topic to regulation by US authorities, Bitcoin stands out as the censorship-resistant asset that continues to be outdoors this perimeter.
Short-term liquidity is okay, as permitted stablecoins can be in every single place US-regulated BTC venues are. If noncompliant stablecoins shrink, some high-friction flows will pivot to BTC pairs.
In the long run, GENIUS domesticates the greenback aspect of crypto, making Bitcoin the cleanest technique to step outdoors the new perimeter.
For Ethereum, GENIUS doubtlessly brings a brand new degree of scale if issues stay as they’re in the present day. Permitted issuers want EVM chains with mature infrastructure and deep DeFi capabilities.
That is structurally supportive of ETH as gasoline and settlement infrastructure for regulated stablecoin funds and tokenized belongings.
As a outcome, a two-tiered DeFi ecosystem would possibly emerge. One tier consists of permissioned, GENIUS-compliant swimming pools with institutional capital, and permissionless international swimming pools internet hosting any coin. Censorship danger exists on this tier, however that will increase the worth of credible neutrality at the protocol degree.
The different tier is fashioned by bank-grade, trillion-scale greenback tokens selecting Ethereum, making blockspace a invaluable infrastructure.
The struggle is over the guidelines. Treasury, the Fed, and the OCC write them between now and mid-2026. By 2027, the market learns what GENIUS truly constructed. By 2028, capital will circulate into banks, onto Ethereum, or offshore.
The submit The GENIUS Act’s $250M battle begins now: Bitcoin stands as the last bastion against censorship appeared first on CryptoSlate.
