Key Takeaways
The GENIUS Act's one-year deadline for stablecoin rules passed on July 18 with six federal agencies having issued eight proposed rules and not one final rule.
The law sets no penalty for a missed deadline, so its effective date still turns on the earlier of 18 months after enactment or 120 days after final rules are published.
A year in, Circle's USDC handled close to 70 percent of stablecoin payment volume and the total market grew past $290 billion, evidence the winners are being set before the rulebook is written.
One year to the day after President Trump signed the GENIUS Act, the deadline it set for stablecoin rules arrived and passed without a finished rulebook. The six federal agencies charged with writing the rules, the OCC, the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, the NCUA, Treasury, and FinCEN, had published eight proposed rules and not one final rule by July 18. Back on June 22 several of them effectively signaled the miss, opening fresh comment periods that run past the deadline.
The law itself is quiet about what comes next. It carries no penalty for missing the date and no interim framework, so the effective date still turns on the earlier of 18 months after enactment or 120 days after the rules are finalized. The delay lands hardest on the newest players. New federal applicants, foreign issuers, and state-qualified issuers wait longest to learn the reserve, redemption, custody, and capital standards they will have to meet.
The most notable part is who has already pulled ahead while the rules sat unfinished. By trading volume, Circle's USDC handled close to 70 percent of stablecoin payment flows in the first half of 2026, well ahead of Tether's roughly 25 percent, even though Tether still holds the larger supply at about $186 billion. Ripple's RLUSD, launched under a state trust regime, reached about $1.6 billion. The total market climbed past $290 billion, up from about $206 billion at the start of 2025.
The pattern is hard to ignore. The firms winning the stablecoin race are the ones that locked in federal charters and clean regulatory relationships early, not the ones waiting on Washington. Circle spent the past month opening a national trust bank for USDC under final OCC approval, and the Fed chair would not commit to hitting the deadline when Congress asked him about it two weeks ago. The rulebook is late. The market is not waiting for it. Worth watching.
People Also Ask
Did the GENIUS Act meet its rulemaking deadline?
No. The one-year deadline for stablecoin rules passed on July 18, 2026 with the federal agencies having issued eight proposed rules and no final rule.
What happens now that the GENIUS Act deadline has passed?
The law sets no penalty for a missed deadline. Its effective date still turns on the earlier of 18 months after enactment or 120 days after final rules, so issuers keep waiting for the standards they must meet.
Which stablecoin is winning under the GENIUS Act?
By payment volume, Circle's USDC led the first half of 2026 with close to 70 percent of flows, ahead of Tether, while Ripple's RLUSD kept climbing from a much smaller base.
How big is the stablecoin market in 2026?
The total stablecoin market grew past $290 billion in 2026, up from about $206 billion at the start of 2025, with Tether and USDC together holding most of the supply.