Stablecoin Regulation: GENIUS Act, MiCA, and UK Rules
How stablecoin regulation works across jurisdictions: the US GENIUS Act, the EU MiCA framework, UK final rules, and the second wave now in consultation.
Stablecoin rules now differ sharply by country. The United States GENIUS Act takes effect in January 2027. The EU MiCA framework already applies. The UK has final rules and a 2026 gateway. This hub tracks each regime from the primary texts.
What this hub covers
Stablecoin law stopped being hypothetical in 2024. It also stopped being uniform. The European Union has a live framework. The United States has an enacted statute with a 2027 start date. The United Kingdom has final rules and a gateway opening in 2026. A second wave of countries is moving behind them.
This hub tracks each regime from the primary texts. That means the statutes, the regulations, and the policy statements themselves. Coverage of a rule is not the rule. The pages below hold the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom. They also hold the second wave, the tax treatment questions, and the central bank digital currency pages, where sovereign money takes the other path.
The United States: the GENIUS Act
The GENIUS Act is Public Law 119-27. It was enacted on 18 July 2025. The statute sets its own start date [1]. The date is the earlier of two events. The first is 18 months after enactment, which lands on 18 January 2027. The second is 120 days after final implementing rules. At the research date, no final rules existed. The operative stage was a proposed rule, with comments open into October 2026. So the statutory date governs. The GENIUS Act page holds the statute section by section, the reserve classes, and the interest ban.
The statute sets a threshold of $10 billion. The measure is consolidated total outstanding issuance. Above that line, issuers move from state to federal supervision. The statute also lists the permitted reserve classes. It states the redemption duties and the monthly reporting that follow [1].
Two bills that came before
Congress tried this twice before it succeeded. A House bill introduced in November 2020 proposed a federal stablecoin framework [2]. It died in committee. A Senate bill introduced in March 2022 proposed disclosure rules under a similar name [3]. It also died. Neither became law. The framework both sought arrived five years later inside the GENIUS Act. The legislative history section of the GENIUS Act page reads that record from the bills themselves, not from later summaries.
The European Union: MiCA
MiCA is Regulation (EU) 2023/1114. Its stablecoin titles have applied since 30 June 2024. The general application date, 30 December 2024, is also behind it [4]. The framework splits stablecoins into two legal forms. Asset-referenced tokens take their value from a basket of assets. E-money tokens track one fiat currency. Each form gets its own authorization path and its own reserve rules, stated article by article. The MiCA page holds those articles and the European register facts.
The United Kingdom: final rules and a gateway
The Financial Conduct Authority published final rules in PS26/10. The rules cover non-systemic UK-issued qualifying stablecoins. They state the backing assets, the redemption timing, and the own funds an issuer must hold [5]. A systemic tier is addressed separately, by the Bank of England. The statutory instrument underneath, SI 2026/102, commences in full on 25 October 2027. Its gateway opens on 30 September 2026 [6]. The UK page holds both tiers and the gateway calendar.
The second wave
Singapore, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, and Japan are each at their own stage. The second wave page tracks them from each regulator’s own publications. Japan’s pages carry one caveat. Their ordinance facts rest on machine-assisted reads of the Japanese original, pending native review.
Taxes, beside the rules
Regulation and taxation are different questions, and this pillar holds both. The stablecoin taxes page covers the United States and the United Kingdom only, from the IRS and HMRC own documents, with every official silence labeled as a silence.
Central bank digital currency
Sovereign money takes the other path here. The definition page holds what a CBDC is and where every major project stands, dated. The dangers page sorts the concerns debate into documented commitments, stated positions, and speculative harms. The comparison page sets the sovereign instrument against the private one, criterion by criterion.
How this hub cites law
Every legal claim on these pages points at the text it rests on. A statute citation carries its public law number. A rule citation carries its docket. Where a text is in force, the page says so, with the date. Where a text is only proposed, the page says that too, with the comment window. The gap between those two states is where most bad coverage lives. A proposed rule is not law. An enacted statute with a future date is not yet in force. These pages keep the states separate.
Where this hub sits
The tokens being regulated are covered at stablecoins. Bitcoin has its own hub. The networks assets move on sit under chains. Spending is the spend hub’s subject. The basics live at cryptocurrency. Each hub links the others, so the trail never dead-ends.
Guides and facts
- The Dangers of CBDC: What Is Documented, What Is Speculative
The CBDC concerns debate sorted by evidence: issuer privacy commitments, a stated US government position, and speculative harms no primary source supports.
- What Is a CBDC? Central Bank Digital Currency, Defined
A CBDC is digital money issued as a direct central bank liability. Which projects launched, which sit in design, and where the old coming-soon framing failed.
- CBDC vs Stablecoin: The Difference, Criterion by Criterion
A CBDC is a central bank liability. A stablecoin is a private issuer's liability. Six sourced criteria side by side, with a dated 2026 project table.
- The GENIUS Act: What the Statute Actually Says
The GENIUS Act from its own text: the 2027 start date mechanics, the $10 billion threshold, reserve classes, the interest ban, and the bills before it.
- MiCA: The EU Stablecoin Rules, Article by Article
MiCA from the official EU text: the two stablecoin forms it defines, the application dates, and the articles that govern reserves and own funds.
- Stablecoin Rules in Singapore, Switzerland, UAE, and Japan
The second regulatory wave, regulator by regulator: Singapore's MAS framework, Swiss FINMA guidance, the UAE rulebook in force, and Japan's 2026 ordinance.
- Stablecoin Taxes: What the IRS and HMRC Actually Say
How the IRS and HMRC treat stablecoin transactions: property rules, the stablecoin-specific FAQ answer, the UK's draft 2027 relief, and the official silences.
- UK Stablecoin Rules: PS26/10 and the 2026 Gateway
Britain's stablecoin regime from its own documents: FCA final rules, the Bank of England systemic tier, the own-funds floor, and the 2026 gateway.
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