One Year of the GENIUS Act: What's Changed and What's Next

A year ago, the U.S. passed the GENIUS Act, the first federal law regulating stablecoins. Still in the rulemaking phase, GENIUS will ultimately usher in a new regulatory regime where only licensed, regulated entities can legally issue U.S. dollar stablecoins to U.S. customers. 

That single change is reshaping the stablecoin market and creating real opportunity for the institutions that move early.

What this means for the market

Regulated stablecoins are on a path to becoming core payments infrastructure, for payroll, cross border payments, and settlement, the way debit cards and wire transfers are today. GENIUS didn’t change the technology, but it does provide institutional-grade certainty: regulated stablecoins become eligible for cash-equivalent accounting, bank collateral, and wholesale settlement, backed by audited, regulated reserves. This fundamentally changes the calculus for every type of institution.

Building bank-grade issuance infrastructure from scratch, reserve custody, compliance, audit-ready reporting, takes years most institutions don't have. Banks, fintechs, and payment companies entering this market need a regulated partner already built for it. That's the infrastructure Anchorage Digital operates today. Global stablecoin issuers, including the largest incumbents, have to decide whether to register and meet regulatory requirements or risk losing access to U.S. customers once a safe harbor period ends.

In other words, the market is moving from an open, largely unregulated landscape to a licensed one. The institutions that establish their position first will have a meaningful head start.

Where Anchorage Digital fits in

This is exactly the environment Anchorage Digital was built for. In January 2021, Anchorage Digital Bank N.A. became America’s first federally-chartered digital asset bank. Since 2025, we’ve been issuing OCC-regulated stablecoins, well ahead of GENIUS taking effect.

That head start matters because Anchorage Digital Bank is an OCC-regulated stablecoin issuer today. It is already used to meeting high federal standards for issuance. Other issuers are trying to build to meet this higher federal bar. The infrastructure other issuers are now racing to stand up, including bank-grade reserve custody, full compliance with anti money laundering and sanctions requirements, and audit-ready financial reporting, is infrastructure we already operate today. Our federal charter also preempts state money transmitter licensing, removing a layer of complexity our partners might otherwise have to manage.

We're not adjusting our roadmap to meet this moment. We built our roadmap for it.

What we're focused on next

Our goal is to make it as straightforward as possible for banks, fintechs, and payment companies to launch a compliant stablecoin program without building years of regulatory infrastructure from scratch. Whether that means issuance, reserve management, or compliance built on our regulated infrastructure, we are focused on being the fastest, most reliable path to market for institutions ready to move now.

The window to establish a strong position is open, but it won’t stay open indefinitely. Final rules are due by July 2026, and institutional counterparties, exchanges, and corporates will start demanding GENIUS-compliant stablecoins well before the 2028 safe-harbor deadline forces the issue. Institutions that act now will be the ones setting the pace for everyone else.

Read the full breakdown

We put together a complete look at the GENIUS Act's first year, called The GENIUS Act at One. It covers the regulatory timeline, what it means across the industry, and how we're helping partners move quickly and confidently.

Read the full whitepaper: The GENIUS Act at One 

Have questions about stablecoins or how this affects your business? Get in touch.