Washington, D.C., July 19, 2025
President Donald J. Trump on Friday signed the GENIUS Act into law, establishing the United States’ first federal regulatory framework for stablecoins and setting the stage for what the administration describes as a new era in digital finance.
At a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Trump hailed the legislation as “perhaps the greatest revolution in financial technology since the birth of the internet,” describing it as a “clear and simple regulatory framework” designed to cement U.S. leadership in the growing world of blockchain-based payments.
The bill, formally titled the Government-Enabled National Infrastructure for Ubiquitous Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, received bipartisan support in Congress and sweeping endorsements from major players in the cryptocurrency and fintech sectors. Among its key provisions, the law requires dollar-backed stablecoins to maintain full reserves in cash or short-term Treasuries and to disclose those reserves publicly each month.
“This is an important step to spur innovation by providing the crypto industry with clear rules of the road,” said SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, echoing a message of regulatory clarity repeated throughout the event.
The GENIUS Act mandates that stablecoin issuers comply with anti-money laundering laws, sanctions enforcement, and marketing restrictions, including a ban on misleading claims that tokens are backed by the U.S. government. In the case of insolvency, stablecoin holders’ claims will take priority over other creditors—a feature the administration says enhances consumer protection.
Beyond consumer safeguards, the law also aims to shore up the global status of the U.S. dollar. By requiring stablecoin issuers to hold Treasuries, the administration expects to drive demand for U.S. debt and further entrench the dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called the act “visionary,” saying it will “cement the U.S. dollar as the global reserve currency for generations to come.”
The move comes amid an ongoing global debate over how governments should regulate digital assets. With this law, the United States becomes the first major economy to adopt a national legal framework specifically tailored to stablecoins—cryptocurrencies designed to maintain a fixed value against the dollar.
Crypto industry figures reacted with enthusiasm. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong called it a “strong, bipartisan” step that will allow crypto innovation to remain based in the U.S. Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev called the legislation the “first step” toward making the country a leader in digital finance.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse described the moment as “historic,” while Kraken’s Dave Ripley called it a “huge win for the crypto industry—and a huge win, frankly, for the U.S. dollar.”
The GENIUS Act also requires stablecoin issuers to maintain technical capabilities to freeze, seize, or destroy tokens when legally compelled to do so—provisions aimed at curbing illicit use and enhancing the federal government’s enforcement capabilities in areas such as money laundering and sanctions evasion.
David Sacks, the White House’s Director of Digital Asset Strategy, framed the legislation as a major political win. “You have another historic legislative achievement that is a monumental step to fulfilling your promise to making the United States the Crypto Capital of the world,” he told the president.
The administration says the law will immediately bring regulatory certainty to a previously fragmented landscape, aligning state and federal rules and encouraging fintech firms to build and scale their operations domestically.
