Earlier this 12 months, President Donald Trump promised a “Twenty first Century” funds improve with out requiring a central financial institution digital forex, placing the GENIUS Act on the heart of the plan.
The legislation is already on the books; the working rulebook just isn’t but.
In July, Trump praised the crypto business, declaring:
“You could have actually as an business gone up greater than anyone. No one’s gained the respect in such a brief time frame.”
He went on to make an infinite promise to the business he now enormously admires,
“Many Individuals are unaware that behind the scenes, the technical spine of the monetary system is many years outdated[…] however funds and cash transfers are expensive and take days and even weeks to clear.
Beneath this invoice, the complete historical system will likely be eligible for a Twenty first-century improve utilizing the state-of-the-art crypto expertise[…]
This may improve demand for US treasuries, decrease rates of interest and safe the greenback’s standing because the world’s reserve forex for generations to return.”
Trump additionally said that he believes stablecoins assist defend the greenback. He asserted that he’s “not going to let the greenback slide,” as a result of with a “sensible president, you’re by no means going to let the greenback slide.”
When he gave that speech, the greenback had fallen 12% since he took workplace in January. After, it elevated by 3% over the following months.
Notably, when the greenback slid, Bitcoin soared. Now the greenback is recovering, and Bitcoin is in decline.
Can Trump have his greenback cake with out consuming crypto, too?
The Treasury initiated GENIUS Act processes on September 18 with an advance discover of proposed rulemaking that seeks enter on license issuers, set up capital and liquidity necessities, and outline bank-permissible actions.
The session window is step one towards binding requirements that may permit banks and funds companies to concern absolutely backed greenback stablecoins beneath federal oversight.
From banning CBDCs to rewiring the funds stack
The unique promise was framed as upgrading an “historical” stack with out constructing a CBDC.
In an government motion signed Jan. 23, Trump created a CBDC ban, and payments to codify it have cleared the Home however aren’t but legislation. The coverage path is about, whereas statutory endpoints and detailed implementation are pending.
Supervision has shifted in a method that issues for banks in search of to combine with crypto rails. This spring, the OCC, Federal Reserve, and FDIC withdrew earlier “ask permission first” guardrails and reopened custody, stablecoin, and fee DLT actions, which is able to cut back friction as soon as the Treasury finalizes the requirements.
The OCC additionally issued particular bulletins on financial institution actions associated to digital belongings, reestablishing permissible paths beneath overview for security and soundness. In response to the OCC, readability on permissible actions will sit alongside the GENIUS regime for issuers and fee stablecoin service intermediaries.
Throughput on public stablecoin rails is already substantial by on-chain measures, though a big share is intra-exchange and automatic, quite than point-of-sale spending. Trade analysis from McKinsey frames the stablecoin thesis as tokenized money for settlement and treasury, not a shopper swipe substitute on day one.
In response to McKinsey, distribution and last-mile integration drive real-economy impression as soon as backing requirements converge beneath guidelines like GENIUS. After reserves are standardized, competitors shifts to who controls distribution between retailers, acquirers, and wallets.
On the spot rails catch as much as crypto velocity
Legacy immediate rails aren’t standing nonetheless. In response to the Federal Reserve’s FedNow statistics, the community settled 2.5 million funds totaling $307 billion within the third quarter.
The personal Actual-Time Funds community processed $481 billion within the second quarter, with a single-day report of 1.81 million transactions and $5.2 billion on October 3. Swift states that 90% of cross-border funds now attain the vacation spot financial institution inside one hour on GPI, which narrows the velocity hole that when separated public chains from correspondent banking.
The aggressive wedge for crypto rails facilities on 24/7 uptime, weekend and cross-border settlement, programmability, and capital effectivity on the treasury layer, quite than uncooked home velocity.
The pipes that join these benefits to on a regular basis commerce are turning on. Visa has expanded stablecoin settlement assist throughout extra currencies and chains, and is extending this functionality with further acquirers.
Mastercard unveiled end-to-end capabilities to energy stablecoin transactions from wallets to checkouts, and started regional settlement rollouts for USDC and EURC in corridors the place cross-border friction is highest.
In response to Visa Investor Relations and Mastercard, these integrations allow the motion of stablecoins into acquirer-ledgers and settlement recordsdata with out altering the patron checkout expertise.
Pilots with fintech infrastructure suppliers, together with these with Finastra and regional companions, display that working rails are stay in restricted varieties. Acquirer and PSP adoption can scale with extra specific guidelines on legal responsibility, capital, and reserve composition.
When the ‘substitute’ turns into measurable
Coverage timing units the boundary for when a “substitute” rail might be measured in manufacturing. Based mostly on the executive sequence, Treasury’s ANPRM in September is often adopted by a discover of proposed rulemaking within the subsequent quarters, then a remaining rule after a remark cycle.
In response to the Treasury docket, the ultimate GENIUS guidelines are scheduled for implementation in 2026, pending adherence to timelines. In parallel, banking businesses should set capital, liquidity, and supervision requirements for PPSIs and for banks that maintain reserves or intermediate stablecoin settlement.
Market-structure laws, together with the Digital Asset Market Readability Act that handed the Home in July, would make clear the therapy of exchanges and commodities versus securities, however has much less direct impression on funds on day one.
Ahead adoption will rely upon whether or not card networks and acquirers shift their settlement to stablecoins, which might cut back prices or shorten the time. The real looking near-term path is substitute in settlement, not on the level of sale.
PSPs and acquirers can internet service provider receivables in USDC or EURC on weekends or throughout borders, then make the most of financial institution funds the place they’re cheaper or the place coverage requires it.
If that strategy scales, the entrance finish stays the identical for shoppers whereas the again finish routes throughout a number of rails. In response to Mastercard, multi-rail acceptance is already a program objective.
For banks, the revived OCC steering implies that reserve custody, tokenized money actions, and funds DLT might be located beneath current threat frameworks as soon as remaining guidelines outline eligibility and oversight.
Stablecoins, Treasuries, and the greenback technique behind GENIUS
The greenback technique embedded in GENIUS depends on absolutely backed reserves held in Treasury payments and money. If provide and distribution develop beneath federal licensing, the reserve base varieties a recurring bid for short-dated U.S. authorities debt.
A bigger stablecoin float channels demand into 1- to 3-month payments, thereby reinforcing greenback distribution overseas, supplied that par convertibility and intraday liquidity are sturdy.
J.P. Morgan has printed a conservative forecast across the scale of the market, whereas McKinsey and Commonplace Chartered define bigger finish states. The vary issues lower than convertibility, audits, and narrow-banking-style safeguards that deal with financial institution supervisors’ considerations in regards to the singleness of cash, elasticity, and integrity.
There’s a competing path the place public stablecoins cap out and bank-led tokenized deposits take the lead. The Financial institution for Worldwide Settlements outlines a next-generation system constructed round tokenized deposits and unified ledgers anchored in central financial institution reserves.
Alongside this path, most real-economy flows make the most of FedNow, RTP, and SWIFT GPI each domestically and cross-border, with tokenization built-in inside financial institution stability sheets and wholesale platforms. Public stablecoins then stay a crypto-native rail with ring-fenced use.
The result hinges on how U.S. guidelines resolve financial institution entry, capital, and liquidity, in addition to how card and acquirer networks value weekend and overseas change corridors.
The early scorecard on Trump’s ‘substitute’ system
Close to-term scorecards level to movement, not completion. Guidelines are in session, OCC and the Fed have softened posture on financial institution participation, SEC management has turned over, and the cardboard networks are deploying.
Lacking items are the ultimate GENIUS rules, coordinated financial institution capital and liquidity remedies for PPSIs and financial institution intermediaries, and scaled acquirer adoption inside the biggest service provider processors.
In the meantime, immediate rails are compounding. In response to FRB Companies, FedNow worth and quantity are increasing quarter over quarter. RTP’s throughput and transaction limits have risen, which reduces the home hole crypto as soon as exploited.
For readers monitoring whether or not the substitute is real, watch metrics that take a look at the settlement thesis quite than counting on consumer-facing anecdotes. The important thing dates to log are Treasury’s NPRM and remaining rule milestones, OCC and Fed capital and liquidity specifics, and acquirer dashboards that show the share of service provider settlements routed to stablecoins by hall and day of the week.
Monitor the variety of banks that maintain stablecoin reserves and function on- and off-ramps beneath OCC steering. Examine stablecoin weekend and FX prices towards Swift GPI routes on the hall stage. Monitor mixture Treasury invoice holdings by licensed issuers towards public sale sizes. These are the gauges that convert political guarantees into measurable funds infrastructure.
| Rail | Current datapoint | Supply |
|---|---|---|
| FedNow | $307B settled in Q3 2025, 2.5M funds | FRB Companies |
| RTP | $481B in Q2 2025, Oct. 3 report 1.81M tx / $5.2B | PYMNTS |
| Swift GPI | 90% attain vacation spot financial institution inside one hour | Swift |
| Visa | Expanded stablecoin settlement assist, extra cash and chains | Visa IR |
| Mastercard | Finish-to-end stablecoin capabilities stay in choose areas | Mastercard |
| GENIUS guidelines | ANPRM opened Sept. 18, 2025 | U.S. Treasury |
Briefly, crypto is rising as a settlement layer inside multi-rail funds, whereas the patron expertise stays the identical.
The true turning level happens as soon as GENIUS guidelines are finalized and acquirer adoption is mirrored in measurable settlement flows.
Is Trump on monitor to ship a real ‘substitute’?
Thus far, Trump has set a path quite than constructed a completed system. The CBDC ban, the GENIUS framework, and a friendlier stance from the OCC and Fed towards financial institution participation all transfer U.S. coverage towards crypto-based settlement rails.
Card networks and PSPs are wiring these rails into manufacturing, and banks are being advised what “permissible” appears to be like like. That’s actual progress towards a crypto-native settlement layer.
However a full substitute of legacy rails is nowhere close to finished (nor what Trump really promised). FedNow, RTP, and Swift GPI are scaling in parallel, not being switched off. GENIUS requirements are nonetheless beneath session, financial institution capital guidelines for PPSIs stay unresolved, and acquirer adoption is in early pilots quite than being system-wide mandates.
Even on an aggressive timeline, many of the heavy lifting, together with remaining guidelines, financial institution balance-sheet therapy, and cross-border hall build-out, will happen in 2026, and realization is more likely to prolong past his second time period.
Probably the most real looking consequence just isn’t a clear swap of 1 system for an additional, however a multi-rail stack the place stablecoins and tokenized deposits deal with settlement within the background whereas playing cards and immediate financial institution transfers stay the patron contact factors.
In that world, Trump can credibly argue that he pushed the system towards crypto rails and away from a CBDC, however the “substitute” he promised will look extra like a regularly rewired again finish than a flag day the place legacy rails disappear.
So is he on monitor?
At this stage, he’s on monitor to affect how the next-generation stack is wired, quite than completely changing legacy rails in a single time period.
The scorecard as we speak reads: coverage momentum and stay pilots, however no decisive break the place the majority of U.S. and world retail funds transfer onto crypto settlement.
Till financial institution capital and liquidity requirements are finalized, and acquirer dashboards present stablecoins carrying a significant share of settlement, Trump’s substitute stays a thesis in progress, not a completely developed system.
