The United States has implemented the GENIUS Act of 2025, a landmark piece of legislation that establishes a comprehensive federal framework for stablecoin regulation. The act mandates that all permitted payment stablecoin issuers maintain 1:1 reserves with high-quality liquid assets, such as US dollars, Treasury bills, and specific money market funds. This move is designed to ensure stability and protect consumers.

The GENIUS Act also imposes strict rules on the custody of reserves and private keys, requiring these services to be managed by federally or state-regulated financial institutions. This introduces a new layer of compliance and operational requirements for stablecoin issuers.

A key provision of the act restricts the offering of stablecoins from foreign issuers within the US unless their regulatory regime is deemed comparable to American standards by the Secretary of the Treasury. This has significant implications for the global stablecoin market, as international issuers must now navigate these new requirements to access US customers. The legislation follows a global trend of increased regulatory scrutiny, with regions like Hong Kong and Singapore also implementing their own stablecoin frameworks in 2025.