The US Treasury Department is preparing a comprehensive regulation aimed at fighting crime and strengthening financial oversight for companies that issue stablecoins in the country. The regulation in question envisages companies taking on more responsibilities in preventing threats to the US financial system and combating illegal financial transactions.
Obligations planned to be introduced with the new rules
Within the scope of the draft prepared jointly by the Ministry’s Financial Crimes Investigation Network (FinCEN) and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), stablecoin companies will be required to take technical measures such as blocking, freezing and rejecting transactions. It is also expected to comply with the Bank Secrecy Law, carefully monitor suspicious movements, and allocate more resources to particularly risky users or activities.
The proposed regulation is also directly linked to the National US Stablecoin Innovations Act (GENIUS), which was passed last year and is the first major comprehensive law to come into effect in the cryptocurrency industry in the US. In the new period, the Ministry of Treasury aims to focus on an approach that will enable stablecoin companies to evaluate their own risks in the best way.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has stated that his latest initiatives will ensure the security of the US financial system while not hindering American companies from advancing the field of payment stablecoins.
Market players and possible impacts
In addition to prominent companies in the stablecoin market such as Tether, Circle and Ripple, institutions such as World Liberty Financial, which is partially owned and managed by Donald Trump’s family, have been waiting for clearer regulations for a long time. With the new rules, companies will need to develop their own internal control systems and be able to detect transactions linked to individuals or organizations targeted by US authorities.
Regarding sanctions, it is known that major cryptocurrency exchanges, especially Binance, have been on the agenda due to various violations in the past. OFAC will ask stablecoin companies to proactively detect and prevent actions that could violate US sanctions in peer-to-peer or secondary market transactions.
The crypto industry’s relations with the state in the USA follow a fluctuating course. New regulation and control mechanisms aim to ensure that stablecoins operate safely and transparently, but appear to occasionally conflict with industry-wide expectations of decentralization and autonomy.
On the other hand, the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector allows individuals to make direct transactions by eliminating intermediaries. Despite this, negotiations for crime prevention mechanisms and legal clarity in this area are still ongoing.
Earlier this year, the Office of the Independent Comptroller of the Currency, which oversees the National Banks and Trust Fund, introduced new standards and tracking protocols for stablecoin issuers. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which regulates deposit insurance in the United States, also shared news of a similar offer this week.
The GENIUS law is planned to come into full force by 2027. Many companies are starting licensing and partnership initiatives for stablecoin activities without waiting for the law to be fully implemented. World Liberty, with which the Trump family is associated, applied for a trust bank to manage USD1, a US dollar-based stablecoin, at the beginning of the year.
World Liberty was back in the spotlight this week over allegations that its business partner AB DAO was involved in a project linked to Cambodia-based Prince Group, which was subject to significant investigation and sanctions by the US last year. Under the proposed new regulations, such business relationships will undergo stricter controls.
