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Savannah HeraldBy 3 Mins Read

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Title: Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act

Vote Smart’s Synopsis:

Vote to invoke cloture on a bill that establishes regulations over payment stablecoins, and for other purposes.

Highlights:

  • Establishes regulations over payment stablecoins, other digital assets, and for other purposes (Sec. 2-18).

  • Establishes a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins (digital assets which an issuer must redeem for a fixed value) (Sec. 2-18).

  • Specifies that only permitted issuers may issue a payment stablecoin for use by U.S. persons, subject to certain exceptions and safe harbors. Permitted issuers must be a subsidiary of an insured depository institution, a federal-qualified nonbank payment stablecoin issuer, or a state-qualified payment stablecoin issuer (Sec. 2-18).

  • Requires that permitted issuers must be regulated by the appropriate federal or state regulator. Permitted issuers may choose federal or state regulation; however, state regulation is limited to those with a stablecoin issuance of $10 billion or less (Sec. 2-18).

  • Specifies that permitted issuers must maintain reserves backing the stablecoin on a one-to-one basis using U.S. currency or other similarly liquid assets (Sec. 2-18).

  • Specifies permitted issuers must also publicly disclose their redemption policy and publish monthly the details of their reserves (Sec. 2-18).

  • Specifies requirements for (Sec. 2-18):

    • Reusing reserves;

    • Providing safekeeping services for stablecoins; and

    • Supervisory, examination, and enforcement authority over federal-qualified issuers.

  • Authorizes foreign issuers of stablecoins to offer, sell, or make available in the United States stablecoins using digital asset service providers, subject to requirements, including a determination by the Department of the Treasury that they are subject to comparable foreign regulations (Sec. 2-18).

  • Specifies that permitted payment stablecoins are not considered securities under securities law. However, permitted issuers are subject to the Bank Secrecy Act for anti-money laundering and related purposes (Sec. 2-18).

  • Defines โ€œdigital assetsโ€ as any digital representation of value that is recorded on a cryptographically secured distributed ledger (Sec. 2-18).

  • Specifies that the provisions of this bill shall take effect 18 months after the enactment date of this bill (Sec. 19).