Anchorage Digital’s Comment Letter on Treasury’s NPRM for the GENIUS Act
TL;DR: Anchorage Digital generally supports the approach FinCEN and OFAC are taking to implement GENIUS Act’s AML and sanctions provisions. Our full comment letter asks the agencies to confirm a few targeted points in the final rule and outlines why we believe the framework positions issuers to meet compliance obligations while also achieving the agencies’ national security objectives.
Compliance obligations will determine if the United States remains the world’s dominant currency and home for dollar-backed stablecoin issuance. The joint FinCEN and OFAC proposal implementing the GENIUS Act’s anti-money laundering (AML) and sanctions provisions makes those assignments along sound, risk-based lines. Anchorage Digital Bank N.A. (ADB) supports that approach, and today is proud to share its comment letter to the agencies.
We commend FinCEN and OFAC for harmonizing the proposed obligations with the existing Bank Secrecy Act framework wherever possible. The proposal currently limits AML monitoring, customer due diligence, and suspicious activity reporting to the primary market, where issuers have direct visibility into their customers, while the sanctions obligations run across the full lifecycle of a payment stablecoin. ADB generally supports the AML architecture, as it places compliance obligations where regulated issuers are positioned to meet them and achieves the agencies’ national security objectives. In addition, Treasury should clarify that regulated issuers (a) will not be strictly liable for failing independently to identify sanctioned persons transacting on the secondary market through the regulated issuers’ smart contracts; (b) may have a single, enterprise-wide AML/CFT and sanctions program that satisfies both their GENIUS Act and primary regulator obligations; and (c) will not need to classify all institutional stablecoin customers as correspondent accounts.
A final rule that is clear and workable gives regulated institutions the certainty they need to build, and strengthens U.S. leadership in the next generation of payments and settlement infrastructure. ADB’s letter supports the proposal’s core AML design and offers the targeted clarifications summarized above to help the agencies reach that outcome in the final rule.
ADB thanks FinCEN and OFAC for the opportunity to comment and looks forward to continued engagement as the agencies move toward a final rule. ADB currently issues five stablecoins for its brand partners: USAT (Tether), USDtb (Ethena), USDPT (Western Union), fUSD (Falcon), and USDGO (OSL Group), and expects to become a permitted payment stablecoin issuer under the GENIUS Act once the implementing framework is effective.
Read Anchorage Digital's Comment Letter on Treasury's NPRM for the GENIUS Act
About Anchorage Digital
Anchorage Digital is a global crypto platform that enables institutions to participate in digital assets through trading, staking, custody, governance, settlement, stablecoin issuance, and the industry’s leading security infrastructure. Home to Anchorage Digital Bank N.A., the first federally chartered crypto bank in the U.S., Anchorage Digital also serves institutions through Anchorage Digital Singapore, which is licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore; Anchorage Digital NY, which holds a BitLicense from the New York Department of Financial Services; and self-custody wallet Porto by Anchorage Digital. Anchorage Digital Bank also offers fiat custody services through the use of an FDIC-insured, licensed sub-custodian. Anchorage Digital is funded by leading institutions including Andreessen Horowitz, GIC, Goldman Sachs, KKR, and Visa, with a valuation of $4.2 billion. Founded in 2017 in San Francisco, California, Anchorage Digital has offices in New York, New York; Porto, Portugal; Singapore; and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Learn more at anchorage.com, on X @Anchorage, and on LinkedIn.
This post is intended for informational purposes only. It is not to be construed as and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase any securities in Anchor Labs, Inc., or any of its subsidiaries, and should not be relied upon to make any investment decisions. Furthermore, nothing within this announcement is intended to provide tax, legal, or investment advice and its contents should not be construed as a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security or digital asset or to engage in any transaction therein.
Anchorage Digital Bank National Association offers fiat custody services through the use of an FDIC-insured, licensed sub-custodian.
