State regulators were sidelined in the U.S. Treasury Department’s effort to implement the new U.S. stablecoin law, according to several senators from both parties who insist that states should be given an explicit process to demonstrate that their oversight and standards are on par with those of federal regulators.
The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act to regulate stablecoin issuers is being translated into regulations at several federal financial agencies, including the Treasury. But the opening effort may not have satisfied state regulators who are trying to push through their own GENIUS-related regulations, according to a Tuesday letter from lawmakers, led by Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis, chair of the Senate Banking Committee’s crypto subcommittee.
“Treasury’s finalized principles for evaluating whether state regimes are substantially similar to the federal regulatory framework are critical in this process,” according to the letter, also signed by fellow Republicans and some Democrats, including Angela Alsobrooks, Catherine Cortez Masto and Kirsten Gillibrand. “The proposed principles were published by Treasury, but did not address the timeline or procedural requirements related to state certification.”
