Payment Stablecoin
A digital asset designed to maintain a stable value for use as a means of payment or settlement; under the GENIUS Act (2025), it may be issued only by permitted issuers holding one-to-one reserves.
A payment stablecoin is a digital asset designed to hold a stable value, typically pegged one-to-one to the U.S. dollar, and used as a means of payment or settlement rather than as a speculative investment.
The GENIUS Act, enacted in July 2025, created the first federal framework for payment stablecoins. It limits issuance to permitted payment stablecoin issuers, requires issuers to hold high-quality liquid reserves on a one-to-one basis, and treats issuers as financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act. Implementing rules from the OCC and other regulators continued to roll out through 2026.
For a company building a stablecoin product, permitted-issuer status, reserve composition and attestation, redemption rights, and BSA/AML obligations are threshold design questions. The stablecoin framework is distinct from the broader crypto market-structure legislation that remained pending in Congress as of mid-2026.