FDIC Meeting Advances GENIUS Act Stablecoin Rules

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation will convene a board meeting on April 7 to advance implementation of the GENIUS Act, the landmark 2025 legislation that created the first federal regulatory framework for stablecoins in the United States. The session, held in Washington, D.C., comes amid a flurry of regulatory activity, including a recent Treasury Department proposal outlining criteria for state-level oversight of smaller stablecoin issuers.

Signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 18, 2025, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act addresses gaps exposed by past incidents, such as the 2022 TerraUSD collapse. It mandates that permitted payment stablecoins maintain 1:1 reserves backed by high-quality liquid assets, including cash and short-term U.S. Treasuries, with on-demand redemption at par value. Issuers are prohibited from paying interest or yields to holders, a measure aimed at preventing deposit flight from traditional banks. The law also imposes antimoney laundering and counterterrorism financing standards, while barring regulators from denying banking services to crypto firms based on reputational risk.