New federal rules for digital money tied to the dollar.

What it does

The GENIUS Act sets up rules for coins that stay worth the same as US dollars. Only banks, credit unions, and a few licensed groups can issue them. Coins must be backed dollar-for-dollar with safe assets like Treasury bills. Groups must publish monthly reports and get monthly audits. They must follow anti-money-laundering rules. Big tech groups need special approval before they can issue coins. They cannot sell customer payment data to ad sellers.

Who it affects

Banks and credit unions can now issue coins under clear rules. Tech groups face strict limits on issuing coins and using customer data. People who use foreign coins have three years to switch to US-approved ones or stop using them.

One thing to notice

The law bans foreign coins within three years unless they follow US rules. People may lose the choice to use some coins they use now.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

5 cosponsors: 5 Republicans.

• May 1, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• Jun 17, 2025 — Passed the Senate · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate with an amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 68 - 30. Record Vote Number: 318. (text: CR S3419-3432)”
• Jul 17, 2025 — Passed both chambers · Congress.gov: “On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 308 - 122 (Roll no. 200). (text: CR H3405-3418)”
• Jul 17, 2025 — Sent to president · Congress.gov: “Presented to President”
• Jul 18, 2025 — Signed into law · Congress.gov: “Became Public Law No: 119-27”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

35 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 53 reports from Sep 2025 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $13,503,881 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 4 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 98% of bills with any report.

Bill Hagerty, who sponsored the bill, received $1,579,641 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• American Council of Life Insurers — $1,878,641 in 1 report
• S&p Global Inc. (f/k/a Mcgraw Hill Financial Inc.) — $1,550,000 in 4 reports
• Food Marketplace Inc — $1,384,000 in 2 reports
• Coinbase, Inc. — $1,160,000 in 1 report
• Bank Policy Institute — $1,130,000 in 2 reports

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• backed — Held up by real money or safe assets kept in reserve.
• anti-money-laundering — Rules to stop criminals from hiding illegal money in legal money.
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
• sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.