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GENIUS Act clock starts
The U.S. GENIUS Act reached its first anniversary on July 18, 2026, but US regulators had not finalized stablecoin rules, leaving compliance uncertain for issuers like Tether.
Crypto Briefing says Tether faces exclusion from American exchanges by mid-2028 if it can’t satisfy the GENIUS Act’s compliance demands, while LCX Exchange reports that US agencies missed Saturday’s rulemaking deadline for final stablecoin rules.
Crypto Briefing lays out that the law, formally known as Public Law 119-27, was signed into law on July 18, 2025, and that stablecoin issuers serving US individuals must be permitted entities holding 1:1 reserves in US dollars or equivalent liquid assets.
Crypto Briefing adds that the law demands monthly disclosures detailing those reserves and requires compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act, including full anti-money laundering and know-your-customer requirements.
LCX Exchange reports that missing the statutory deadline does not invalidate the GENIUS Act, but the unfinished rules could result in regulatory uncertainty for stablecoin issuers.
Tether’s US token
Crypto Briefing says Tether launched USA₮ on January 27, 2026, as a new stablecoin designed specifically to comply with the GENIUS Act’s requirements, with the token issued through Anchorage Digital Bank.
Crypto Briefing reports that USDT continues circulating globally, while USA₮ targets the US market with full compliance, and it notes that for USDT to remain accessible in the US, Tether would need to qualify as a compliant foreign issuer.
CoinDesk reports that the GENIUS Act hit its first anniversary without U.S. regulators meeting deadlines to write regulations, but that rules will be in full effect by July 2028.
CoinDesk quotes Anchorage Digital’s Kevin Wysocki saying, “Non-compliant stablecoins cannot be used by U.S. institutions when the safe harbor expires in 2028, but we don’t expect the market to wait,” and it adds that he expects institutional users to move toward “compliant, bank-issued digital dollars well ahead of that deadline.”
Crypto Briefing also says that as of mid-2026, the US Treasury reciprocity determination for USDT remained pending, leaving Tether’s US future tied to whether that determination comes with conditions Tether can meet.
Market reshaping and risk
Crypto Briefing frames the GENIUS Act as a transition that ends around mid-2028, after which exchanges and other platforms serving US customers must drop any stablecoin that doesn’t meet the new standards.
“Crypto is closing the week in cautious green after a whipsaw few days”
CryptoRank says the stablecoin market sits near $310 billion on the eve of the GENIUS Act’s first anniversary, including roughly $184 billion in USDT and $73 billion in USDC, and it cites Federal Reserve researchers measuring stablecoin capitalization at $317 billion on Apr. 6.
CryptoRank reports that as of July 17, core implementing measures were still in proposal form, and it describes how the law has accelerated institutional adoption through OCC conditional approvals for Ripple, Fidelity, BitGo and Paxos.
CryptoRank also quotes Kyle Sonlin, president and co-founder of Global Settlement Network, describing that his conversations with governments and institutions now start from acceptance of stablecoins as financial infrastructure and that his team spends “far less time explaining why stablecoins matter.”
LCX Exchange adds that the agencies involved in rulemaking included the Department of the Treasury, the OCC, the FDIC and the Federal Reserve Board, and it notes that proposed rules were published and public feedback collected during the past year without final regulations issued before the deadline.
