After years of opposition, the United States finally embraced crypto regulation in 2025. On July 18, President Donald Trump signed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act, known as the GENIUS Act, into law, establishing the first comprehensive federal framework for dollar-backed stablecoins. The GENIUS Act introduced federal rules governing “payment stablecoins.” Key provisions include a 1:1 reserve with top-quality liquid assets and monthly reports with annual audits, under federal supervision with AML/KYC requirements. Issuers must be OCC-chartered non-banks, insured banks, or approved state firms, and stablecoins are explicitly excluded from being classified as securities.
Issuers must be OCC-chartered non-banks, insured banks, or approved state firms, and stablecoins are explicitly excluded from being classified as securities. Following this, banks and payment firms began to adopt and issue stablecoins under the new rules. Issuers began designing dedicated blockchains for stablecoin settlement to ensure compliance, predictable costs, and institutional appeal. Tether-aligned Stable launched with $28 million in funding, using USDT as the native gas token to cut fee volatility and congestion on general-purpose networks.
In August 2025, Circle introduced Arc, an enterprise-focused Layer-1 supporting regulated payments, FX, and tokenized markets via USDC. Regulatory momentum also lifted crypto ETFs. By October 2025, the SEC placed Bitcoin ETFs and Ethereum ETFs under a generic listing standard, simplifying oversight and making institutional access easier. Spot ETFs for Solana, XRP, and Litecoin joined the party in late 2025.
The GENIUS Act set a global standard for stablecoins, with the UK, Singapore, and the EU’s MiCA framework driving adoption of compliant tokens. By year-end, stablecoins topped $250 billion in market cap and accounted for over 30% of on-chain transactions. What’s next for crypto in 2026? Crypto seems to be at an inflection point.
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