On 30 July 2025, the President's Working Group on Digital Asset Markets published its long-awaited report, entitled "Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology" (the Report). The Report introduces actionable directives to the prudential banking regulators to further stablecoin policies, both domestically and internationally, including directives on implementing the GENIUS Act.
The Report views stablecoins as "one of the most promising [distributed ledger technology] solutions" due to near-instant and 24/7/365 settlement. The Report thus details three broad areas to further stablecoin policies: (1) faithfully and expeditiously implement the GENIUS Act; (2) discourage central bank digital currencies (CBDCs); and (3) promote the competitiveness of the US dollar through cross-border payments and capital markets.
First, the Report "urges" the prudential banking regulators (and SEC and CFTC) to promulgate rules to implement the GENIUS Act, finalizing the federal licensing framework for stablecoins issuers and other participants. Importantly, the GENIUS Act imposes a rulemaking deadline for most of its substantive rules of 18 July 2026. For example, the GENIUS Act requires the coordination of the Treasury, OCC, FDIC, and NCUA to promulgate rules setting out the application process for nonbanks to obtain a license to issue stablecoins (i.e., become a "permitted payment stablecoin issuer"). The Report may influence the banking regulators to promulgate rules well before their statutory deadlines.
Second, the Report aligns with Exec. Order No. 14178, which prohibits agencies from furthering any CBDC efforts. CBDCs are viewed as centralizing "government control of personal financial information, severely compromising individual economic and privacy rights." Instead of such government-led stablecoins, the Report supports the role of private sector innovation under technology-neutral regulations.
Third and lastly, the Report emphasizes the continued expansion of stablecoins within the international monetary system, through cross-border payments and capital markets. Without strong leadership from the US in financial innovation, the Report warns that alternative payment arrangements by other countries would weaken the US Dollar's role as the de facto reserve asset in the global monetary system (and thus weaken our national security tools, such as AML/CFT controls). Therefore, the Report directs the Treasury to provide clarity to financial institutions innovating in cross-border payments and financial markets technologies. Similarly, the Treasury and other relevant agencies should establish international standards and best practices for emerging payment technologies, in order to enhance and strengthen our AML/CFT and sanctions controls.
The Report, along with the newly enacted GENIUS Act, will bring forth a new era of digital payments systems in both the US and on the global scale. We are closely monitoring.
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