Three months have passed since the US’s landmark stablecoin bill was signed into law, but the bill is still undergoing a public comment period.
When the GENIUS Act was signed into law on July 18, 2025, the crypto industry hailed it as globally significant legislation and proposed federal regulation of stablecoins in the United States.
Just over three months have passed and GENIUS is still not in effect. This means that no stablecoin or stablecoin issuer is actively regulated by this bill, despite existing and new players indicating a willingness to abide by the following rules.
Nevertheless, Anchorage Digital Bank, known as the only cryptocurrency-only bank licensed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), announced earlier this month that it would partner with Esena Labs, publisher of the synthetic dollar asset USDe, to launch USDtb, “America’s first federally regulated stablecoin.”
Originally launched by Ethena Labs in December 2024, USDtb is primarily backed by BUIDL, BlackRock’s tokenized US Treasury fund with over $2.8 billion in assets, according to RWAxyz. This stablecoin was previously issued outside the United States, with Ethena Labs in charge of minting and redemption.
In an October 13 post on X, Ethena confirmed that it had migrated USDtb smart contracts to Anchorage Digital, calling it “a monumental onshoring that makes USDtb the first federally regulated stablecoin issued in a manner compliant with the GENIUS Act.”
But competitors and onlookers say such claims are technically premature and risk misleading investors in an “information-poor environment.”
Implementation questions
As legal observers and industry observers have warned, “onshoring” USDtb through a regulated entity like Anchorage is not the same as statutory approval under a specific law.
In an Oct. 14 post on X, Facundo Warning, head of Latin America at stablecoin startup Agora, noted that while the law is law, it has not yet entered into force, so “no one is regulated by GENIUS.”
Nicole Diskant, co-founder of RegDoor, a proxy policy platform that helps regulated companies meet complex requirements, explained in comments to The Defiant that despite being signed into law, details about how the GENIUS law will be implemented remain unclear.
As Diskant points out, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued a “Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” just last month to gather public input on how the law would be implemented, following a separate request for comment in August.
“The public comment period will run until November 4, 2025, after which agencies will draft and publish their final rules. The GENIUS Act will officially take effect 120 days after the final rule is published or 18 months after enactment, whichever comes first. Until then, it remains a legal framework awaiting activation, rather than a fully functioning regime,” Diskant clarified to The Defiant.
An analysis from late July by US law firms including WilmerHale, Latham & Watkins and DLA Piper highlights that only approved “Permitted Payments Stablecoin Issuers” (PPSIs) can issue or sell payments stablecoins in the US, and that those approvals cannot exist until the rulemaking is complete. Until then, the GENIUS Act is not yet an effective regulatory regime.
Ethena Labs General Counsel Zach Rosenberg acknowledged that limitation in his response to X, confirming that GENIUS is indeed “not currently regulating anyone.” He clarified that Athena’s statement that it operates “in a manner consistent with the GENIUS Act” means that it is building USDtb in accordance with the provisions of the law, not that it is already regulated under the law.
Dyskant explained that the language used by companies like Ethena Labs and Anchorage should be interpreted as the companies’ intentions and aspirations, rather than strictly as legal claims.
“Some issuers may use the terms ‘GENIUS-enabled’ or ‘GENIUS-compliant’ in their marketing, which means they intend or are designed to meet the standards expected by the law, such as one-to-one reserve backing, transparent disclosure, and federal oversight. As such, these claims are more aspirational than legally proven, as there is currently no formal licensing or approval process under the law.”
other players
So what about Circle’s USDC? The second largest stablecoin in the world and the largest US-issued stablecoin, USDC has long been considered the most legally prudent and transparent US dollar stablecoin due to its regular reserve certifications and relationships with US banks.
On its official page featuring the GENIUS Act, Circle hints that it aims to be compliant with USDC’s cautious approach, but has not yet made any clear claims. The Defiant reached out to Circle for more information about the company’s preparations for GENIUS, but did not receive a response as of press time.
Tether, the world’s largest issuer of stablecoin USDT, recently announced that it also plans to join the regulated US stablecoin sector. The stablecoin giant announced last month that it would launch a dedicated US-issued stablecoin USAT, designed to be GENIUS compliant. As The Defiant reported, former White House adviser Beau Hines will serve as CEO of USAT, while Anchorage Digital will also be responsible for publishing USAT.
Tether did not respond to The Defiant’s request for comment about its compliance preparations by press time.
Commenting on the current regulatory situation, Diskant concluded that “no stablecoin can be considered fully GENIUS compliant at this stage, as the regulatory requirements defining compliance have not yet been finalized and, of course, have not been enforced.”