GENIUS Act
8 articles
What Happens When a Stablecoin Payment Goes Wrong? The Consumer-Protection Gap in America's New Payment Rails
Stablecoin payments settle in seconds, around the clock, with no chargeback and no error-resolution regime. A crypto payments attorney walks through what actually happens behind a stablecoin payment, where the law protects you, where it doesn't yet, and what businesses should put in place before moving real volume onto the new rails.
When Does the GENIUS Act Actually Take Effect? The 120-Day Trigger and the January 18, 2027 Backstop
Federal regulators arrive at the GENIUS Act's July 18, 2026 rulemaking deadline with eleven proposed rules and zero final ones. That does not delay compliance—it fixes the effective date at January 18, 2027 while compressing the build window issuers have left.
Who Is the BSA Customer When an AI Agent Sends Stablecoins?
The GENIUS Act made stablecoin issuers Bank Secrecy Act institutions, and AI agents are now sending stablecoins on their own. The customer-identification rules assume a person. Corporate law has answered the non-human-person question for two hundred years.
The SEC/CFTC Token Taxonomy: What the Five Categories Mean for Your Token
The March 2026 SEC/CFTC joint release established five token categories. Which one applies determines your regulator, registration obligations, and compliance path.
Federal vs. State Stablecoin Regulation: Choosing Your Registration Path
The GENIUS Act sets up a dual-track registration regime for payment stablecoins — a federal path (OCC-supervised) and a state path for issuers at or below $10 billion in a certified state — but it is enacted, not yet effective, with implementing rules still in proposed form as of mid-2026. This guide compares the federal and state pathways, the preemption rules, and the strategic trade-offs once the regime takes effect.
Stablecoin Reserve Requirements: Attestations, Custody, and Liquidity Management
The GENIUS Act sets a 1:1 reserve mandate for payment stablecoins — cash and short-dated Treasuries, monthly examinations, qualified custody — but it is enacted, not yet effective, with implementing rules still in proposed form as of mid-2026. This guide explains what the statute will require once effective, how today's attestation practice differs, and how to build a compliant reserve program.
GENIUS Act Stablecoin Compliance: A 2027 Roadmap for Issuers
The GENIUS Act became law in July 2025, but its compliance cliff is January 18, 2027—and the implementing rules are still in proposed form. Here is what stablecoin issuers should be doing now, and the facts the early commentary got wrong.
The Stablecoin Issuer's Dual-Framework Roadmap: How GENIUS Act PPSI Compliance Interacts with the Pending CLARITY Act Yield Compromise
The GENIUS Act is law, effective January 18, 2027 unless final rules come first. The CLARITY Act's Tillis-Alsobrooks yield provision is not law, and it binds the exchanges and wallets that distribute a coin, not the issuer. Stablecoin issuers building rewards products need a dual-framework architecture that survives both regimes—and the Senate floor fight that opens September 15, 2026.
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