On June 17, the Senate passed the GENIUS Act by a vote of 68–30. If it becomes law, payment stablecoins will be officially recognized, regulated and brought into the United States financial system.
In part, a payment stablecoin is defined as:
“…a digital asset… that is, or is designed to be, used as a means of payment or settlement…”
For those of us who do not want to operate in a gray area, we want a very clear definition of what is OK and what is not. Unfortunately, from my quick reading of the Act, one major question remains unresolved: To whom can we send a stablecoin?
All we know about the recipient is a wallet address. It looks something like this:
0x736F0f889203152b6769b3A57a3F6BcAbF3Q10d6
How do we KYC a string of 42 characters?
If the sender is a member of the credit union, the sending side of the transaction is covered, but we still know nothing about the recipient. Can we allow the transfer? The Act does not appear to say. If I missed it, let me know in the comments.
When a member takes money out of an ATM, we do not know what happens next. Can payment stablecoins be treated the same way?
The good news is that we are making progress. The bad news is that more work still needs to be done.