The GENIUS Act and the Beginning of U.S. Stablecoin Regulation: What It Will Mean for Issuers, Banks, and Businesses

The U.S. House of Representatives just passed the GENIUS Act (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins), the first federal framework to regulate stablecoins. Here is what it does:

1. Says Who Can Create Stablecoins: Only approved, licensed companies (like banks or trusted fintechs) can issue stablecoins. No random startup can just create one anymore.
2. Requires Real Money Backing: They must be backed 1-to-1 with real U.S. dollars or safe assets (like Treasury bonds). So if a company issues $1 billion in stablecoins, it must actually hold $1 billion in reserve.
3. Demands Transparency: Issuers have to prove their reserves every month, let regulators check their books, and be audited by independent firms.
4. Bans Risky Coins: The law bans algorithms – those that rely on computer formulas instead of actual dollars. (Like TerraUSD, which crashed in 2022).
5. Introduces Government Oversight: Stablecoins will be regulated and supervised by the Federal Reserve and the Treasury, just like any other federally chartered bank.

To sum up, it establishes legal certainty, consumer protections, and federal oversight for users and businesses. It makes them legal, safe, and regulated - essentially, like real digital dollars you can trust. To help understand the GENIUS Act and why it had to happen, let's take a look at just how much it has evolved and the road we have traveled that made this piece of legislation inevitable.

They exploded in 2024:

• $27.6 trillion in transactions, more than Visa and Mastercard combined in payment volume.
• $260 billion market cap by mid-2025.

Notable Participants in Stablecoin Issuance and Acceptance

• Tether (USDT): It currently has a market cap of about $162 billion. In its Q1 2025 report, the company had the highest amount of U.S. Treasury total exposure - at nearly $120 billion.
• Circle (USDC): Roughly $64 billion in market cap; partnered with Visa and backed by BlackRock as well as other notable investors, and went public in June 2025.‍
• PayPal USD (PYUSD): Launched in 2023 with a capitalization of more than $860 billion.‍
• Stripe: Acquired a start-up for $1.1 billion, built for stablecoin payments.‍
• SpaceX: Is using stablecoins to accept payments from its internet customers.‍
• Shopify: Introduced the USDC for merchants last January.

Business Considerations: Real-time Settlement and Readiness for Adoption

Stablecoins are revolutionizing how money moves across the world, in large part, for three reasons:

1. Trustworthy Stability: They are like USDC, backed 100% with dollars on reserve, and therefore give users value no matter where they transact, and also give businesses a guaranteed, reliable, and convertible means for transacting.
2. Quick Cross-Border Payments: Businesses are able to transact quickly and cheaply using blockchain networks, which are modernizing peer-to-peer payment processes above and beyond traditional payment networks.
3. Streamlined Value Transfer: Enhanced digital wallet infrastructure now enables seamless and frictionless movement of funds across users, platforms, and geographies.

At Due, We Are Helping Companies Unlock Their Global Expansion Potential with Stablecoins

We are already working with over 500+ companies around the world with instant pay reach in 80+ countries: bank transfers, mobile money, digital wallets, and more.  With Due, any user can:

1. Receive payment instantly or settle to the local currency of choice.
2. Remove the possibility of chargebacks and reduce expensive payment failures.
3. No fees to bridge USDT to USDC.
4. Countless digital wallets: we support MetaMask, Coinbase, and any wallet via WalletConnect.

Open your account in under 2 minutes today and innovate securely.  To learn more about our reach, currency, and payment services, go here.