Worldwide: International Law

The GENIUS Act became Public Law 119-27 one year ago on July 18, 2025 (GENIUS Act — Public Law 119-27). Multiple federal regulators are preparing the regulatory framework to integrate digital money in the form of payment stablecoins into the existing conventional banking system. States are also exploring the use of stablecoins for payments and digital assets as a class of financial assets. All of this activity is building a new digital payments economy.

An announcement will take place next month at the 2026 New Delhi summit kicking off what some would consider the structural take off for BRICS and the beginning of the end for the U.S. dollar. What is that? BRICS Pay. First, let’s start with what BRICS Pay is not. Russian Senator Vladimir Dzhabarov says that this is not a single currency, but rather a payment system. The purpose behind the platform is to link national payment systems and potentially, and in the future, link digital currencies of the central banks.

Council members in my Rust Belt city do something that has bothered me ever since I started paying attention. At virtually every legislative session that I have observed, when voting to adopt a new measure, they declare a “state of emergency”. Occasionally a resident asks a council member why they do this. Their response is that the city’s charter normally requires them to read a measure twice before passing it, which delays its effective date – but if they declare an emergency, then the measure is effective immediately.