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CIVIC HERALD
S 1582 · 119th Congress · SenateEnacted

GENIUS Act

In plain language: This bill requires companies that issue U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins to hold full, one-to-one reserves in cash or short-term Treasury bills and prove those holdings through regular independent audits. It protects consumers by guaranteeing their ability to cash out stablecoins, prioritizing customer payouts over other corporate debts if an issuer goes bankrupt, and prohibiting issuers from paying interest on held tokens. The bill also bars major commercial and tech companies from issuing stablecoins without special approval and strict data privacy protections, while requiring crypto issuers to follow standard anti-money laundering rules.

Provisional: our plain-language summary, pending review.

Provisionalunreviewed: impact, provisions, stakeholders, summary
People affected—The text applies broadly to digital asset service providers, financial institutions, stablecoin issuers, and consumers holding or transacting in payment stablecoins, but does not provide an explicit numerical count of affected individuals.
Fiscal magnitude—CBO cost estimate published (S. 1582, GENIUS Act, 2025-07-11); dollar figure pending review extraction — see receipt
Reach82provisional · pending reviewrigor: heuristic llm
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Issues

What this bill touches.

Market protections+55Banking/financial rules+65Crypto & digital assets+60

The sign shows the bill's direction on each issue (+ toward, − away); the number is its magnitude. Color never encodes good or bad, and never party.

Who it affects

Who it helps · who it burdens.

Who it helps

  • Depository institutions and insured credit unionsGain explicit legal authorization to issue stablecoins via subsidiaries, custody customer digital assets, and use distributed ledgers without being forced by regulators to record custodied assets as balance-sheet liabilities or hold punitive capital against them (Sec. 16(a)–(c)), while federal qualified issuers gain nationwide preemption of state-level licensing requirements (Sec. 5(h)).provisional
  • Payment stablecoin holders and consumersGain statutory protections ensuring stablecoins are fully backed 1-to-1 with high-quality liquid assets (Sec. 4(a)(1)), clear redemption terms and 7-day advance notice for fee changes (Sec. 4(a)(1)(B)), first-priority claims to redeem underlying reserve assets during issuer insolvency proceedings (Sec. 11), and segregated custody of funds and private keys (Sec. 10(b), (c)).provisional
  • Self-custodial wallet developers and peer-to-peer usersExplicitly exempted from stablecoin issuance prohibitions, transaction restrictions, and custodial financial entity regulations for direct peer-to-peer transfers, personal cross-border account transfers, and non-custodial wallet tools (Sec. 3(h)(1), Sec. 10(e)).provisional
  • Federal officials subject to financial disclosure requirementsCan hold up to $5,000 in permitted payment stablecoins without being required to report them on detailed public financial disclosure filings, treating them like standard bank deposits (Sec. 19).provisional

Who it burdens

  • Permitted payment stablecoin issuersSubject to comprehensive regulatory requirements, including backing stablecoins 1-to-1 with liquid reserve assets (Sec. 4(a)(1)), monthly public disclosures and certified accounting audits (Sec. 4(a)(1)(C), (3)), strict restrictions on rehypothecating reserves (Sec. 4(a)(2)), anti-money laundering and Bank Secrecy Act compliance (Sec. 4(a)(5)), capital and liquidity standards (Sec. 4(a)(4)), business activity restrictions (Sec. 4(a)(7)), and a ban on paying interest or yield to token holders (Sec. 4(a)(11)).provisional
  • Payment stablecoin holdersProhibited from receiving any interest or yield on payment stablecoins solely for holding, using, or retaining them (Sec. 4(a)(11)).provisional
  • Digital asset service providers and custodiansRequired within three years to cease offering, selling, or facilitating secondary trading of unapproved domestic or noncompliant foreign stablecoins to U.S. persons (Sec. 3(b), Sec. 8(b)), facing civil penalties up to $100,000 per day for violations (Sec. 8(b)(4)(A)). Custodians must also be regulated financial entities, segregate customer funds and keys from corporate assets, and prioritize customer claims (Sec. 10(a)–(c)).provisional
  • Commercial public companies and non-financial foreign companiesProhibited from issuing payment stablecoins unless they secure unanimous approval from the Stablecoin Certification Review Committee, and restricted from using nonpublic stablecoin transaction data for targeted advertising, sale, or third-party sharing without affirmative consumer consent (Sec. 4(a)(12)).provisional

Who opposes it

  • Unapproved and noncompliant stablecoin issuersBarred from issuing payment stablecoins in the United States under threat of civil penalties and criminal penalties of up to $1,000,000 and 5 years in prison (Sec. 3(a), (f)); unapproved tokens are disqualified from being treated as cash equivalents, derivatives collateral, or bank settlement assets (Sec. 3(g)).provisional
  • Individuals convicted of financial crimes or cybercrime feloniesBarred from serving as officers or directors of payment stablecoin issuers, backed by criminal penalties of up to 5 years in prison and fines of up to $1,000,000 (Sec. 4(f)).provisional

Dollar-level funding (FEC sector totals) is coming in a later phase.

What it does

The provisions, in plain language.

  1. Prohibits anyone other than an approved 'permitted payment stablecoin issuer' from issuing payment stablecoins in the United States, backed by civil penalties and criminal fines up to $1,000,000 and up to 5 years in prison for knowing violations.

    Sec. 3(a), (f)provisional

  2. Requires permitted stablecoin issuers to back all outstanding stablecoins at least 1-to-1 with identified high-quality liquid reserves (such as U.S. currency, insured bank deposits, and short-term Treasury bills) and strictly restricts the rehypothecation or reuse of those reserve assets.

    Sec. 4(a)(1), (2)provisional

  3. Classifies permitted stablecoin issuers as financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act, requiring them to run anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance programs and maintain the technical ability to freeze, seize, or burn stablecoins under lawful government orders.

    Sec. 4(a)(5), (6)provisional

  4. Prohibits permitted and foreign stablecoin issuers from paying interest or yield to holders solely for holding or using a payment stablecoin.

    Sec. 4(a)(11)provisional

  5. Requires state-regulated stablecoin issuers that exceed $10 billion in issuance to transition into joint federal-state supervision or stop issuing new stablecoins, unless granted a federal waiver.

    Sec. 4(d)provisional

  6. Establishes a 120-day federal application and review process for banks and nonbanks to obtain approval to issue stablecoins, deeming unaddressed complete applications approved and preempting state licensing for federally approved issuers.

    Sec. 5provisional

  7. Requires digital asset custodians and wallet providers for stablecoins to be regulated financial entities, segregate customer funds and keys from corporate assets, and give customer claims priority over general company creditors.

    Sec. 10provisional

  8. Amends federal bankruptcy law to keep required stablecoin reserves out of bankruptcy estates, give stablecoin holders first-priority claims to redeem reserves, and allow immediate court-approved ratable redemptions during issuer insolvencies.

    Sec. 11provisional

  9. Permits insured depository institutions and credit unions to custody stablecoins and use distributed ledgers, and prohibits the SEC and bank regulators from requiring them to treat custodied customer digital assets as balance-sheet liabilities or hold punitive capital against them.

    Sec. 16(a)–(c)provisional

  10. Excludes permitted payment stablecoins from the legal definitions of a 'security' under federal securities laws and a 'commodity' under the Commodity Exchange Act.

    Sec. 17provisional

How your members of Congress line up

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Timeline

How it moved.

  1. Jul 18, 2025Became Public Law No: 119-27.
  2. Jul 18, 2025Became Public Law No: 119-27.
  3. Jul 18, 2025Signed by President.
  4. Jul 18, 2025Signed by President.
  5. Jul 17, 2025Presented to President.
  6. Jul 17, 2025Presented to President.
  7. Jul 17, 2025Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  8. Jul 17, 2025On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 308 - 122 (Roll no. 200). (text: CR H3405-3418)
  9. Jul 17, 2025Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 308 - 122 (Roll no. 200).
  10. Jul 16, 2025Rule H. Res. 580 passed House.
  11. Jul 15, 2025Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 580 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 4016, H.R. 3633, H.R. 1919 and S. 1582. The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 4016 and H.R. 3633 under a structured rule, and H.R. 1919 and S. 1582 under a closed rule, with one hour of general debate on each bill. The resolution provides for a motion to recommit on H.R. 4016, H.R. 3633, and H.R. 1919, and a motion to commit on S. 1582.
  12. Jun 17, 2025Passed Senate with an amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 68 - 30. Record Vote Number: 318. (text: CR S3419-3432)
  13. Jun 17, 2025Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 68 - 30. Record Vote Number: 318.
  14. Jun 12, 2025Cloture on the bill, as amended invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 67 - 27. Record Vote Number: 312.
  15. Jun 11, 2025Motion by Senator Thune to commit to Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs with instructions to report back forthwith with the following amendment (SA 2312) fell when cloture was invoked on amendment SA 2307 in Senate.
  16. Jun 9, 2025Cloture motion on the bill presented in Senate. (CR S3276)
  17. May 21, 2025Motion to proceed to consideration of measure agreed to in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 69 - 31. Record Vote Number: 263.
  18. May 19, 2025Motion by Senator Thune to reconsider the vote by which cloture on the motion to proceed to the measure was not invoked (Record Vote No. 240) rendered moot in Senate.
  19. May 19, 2025Cloture motion on the motion to proceed rendered moot in Senate.
  20. May 19, 2025Second cloture motion on the motion to proceed invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 66 - 32. Record Vote Number: 262. (CR S2965)
  21. May 15, 2025Second cloture motion on the motion to proceed presented in Senate. (CR S2947)
  22. May 8, 2025Motion by Senator Thune to reconsider the vote by which cloture on the motion to proceed to the measure was not invoked (Record Vote No. 240) made in Senate.
  23. May 8, 2025Cloture on the motion to proceed to the measure not invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 48 - 49. Record Vote Number: 240. (CR S2823)
  24. May 6, 2025Cloture motion on the motion to proceed to the measure presented in Senate. (CR S2772)
  25. May 1, 2025Introduced in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time.
  26. May 1, 2025Introduced in Senate

The original text

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Sources & provenance

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