Senators Urge Treasury Ensure State Authority in GENIUS Rules

A bipartisan group of US senators led by Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis has urged the Treasury to ensure that state authorities are given the ability to regulate stablecoin issuers as the department considers how to implement the GENIUS Act.

In a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday, the lawmakers said it was critical that the Treasury implement a section of the law giving a pathway for certain issuers to be regulated by the states “in a manner that preserves and promotes State participation.”

The GENIUS Act allows issuers that have a stablecoin with a market value of $10 billion or less to be regulated by a state authority if that state has laws largely similar to the bill.

Currently, that would mean all stablecoins but three, Tether (USDt), USDC (USDC) and USDS (USDS), formerly Dai (DAI), could be regulated by the states, as all have a market value above $10 billion, according to CoinGecko.

In April, the Treasury sought public input for how it plans to implement the GENIUS Act at the state level, rules that President Donald Trump signed into law in July that regulate stablecoins and their issuers.

President Donald Trump signing the GENIUS Act in July 2025. Source: The White House

“Congress clearly sought to preserve the dual banking system and the crucial role of State banking agencies in supervising this market,” the senators said in their letter.

They added that the Treasury’s proposal “did not address the timeline and procedural requirements related to State certification.” They argued this created “uncertainty for States” and could be interpreted as the process being “a one-time window that effectively bars future certifications.”

The lawmakers said that state legislatures vary, and a flexible certification framework was needed to ensure that states can participate when they have rules implementing the GENIUS Act.

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“States must be able to develop and seek certification of stablecoin regulatory regimes as demand for these charters materializes and as legislative schedules permit,” the letter said. 

Republican Senators Bill Hagerty, Kevin Cramer and Pete Ricketts, along with Democratic Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Angela Alsobrooks, and Catherine Cortez Masto, also signed the letter.

Public comments on the Treasury’s proposal closed on June 2, and it will now draft a final rule for publication in the Federal Register.

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