Core Focus: The legislative framework establishing the US approach: the GENIUS Act creating a federal regulatory framework for private stablecoins, the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act barring a Federal Reserve-issued retail CBDC, and the implications of the US choosing private digital dollars over a public digital dollar.

In-Depth Notes:
The United States has chosen a clear and distinctive path: private, regulated digital dollars over a public central bank digital currency. This choice is now embedded in federal legislation, creating a statutory framework that will shape the US digital payments landscape for years to come.

The GENIUS Act – A Federal Framework for Stablecoins:
In July 2025, Congress passed the GENIUS Act (S. 1582), establishing the first comprehensive federal framework for payment stablecoins . The GENIUS Act requires stablecoin issuers to hold short-dated Treasury securities as reserves—specifically, Treasury bills, notes, or bonds with a remaining maturity of 93 days or less—creating a structural link between stablecoin market growth and demand for US sovereign debt . The House voted 308-122 to pass the GENIUS Act, sending it to President Trump to be signed into law . The framework allows non-bank institutions to issue stablecoins while establishing a regulatory framework for their operation .

The Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act – Prohibiting a Retail Digital Dollar:
Concurrently with the GENIUS Act, the House passed the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act (H.R. 1919), which bars the Federal Reserve from issuing a US CBDC to consumers . The House passed the bill 219-210, sending it to the Senate for consideration . In June 2026, the US Senate passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which contains a provision amending the Federal Reserve Act so that the Board of Governors and Federal Reserve banks cannot issue or create a central bank digital currency, or any digital asset substantially similar to one, directly or indirectly through any financial institution or intermediary . The prohibition runs through 31 December 2030 . Even after that date, the central bank would need explicit Congressional authorisation before pursuing a digital dollar . There is no active US CBDC project to halt. President Trump signed an executive order in January 2025 opposing a digital dollar, and Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh has publicly opposed one .

The “Carve-Out” for Private Stablecoins:
Importantly, the legislative provisions do not prohibit any dollar-denominated currency that is open, permissionless, and private, and that preserves the privacy protections of US physical currency . In practice, that carves out private stablecoins issued under the GENIUS Act framework, including those from Circle, Tether, and any future Permitted Payment Stablecoin Issuer . The US is therefore now sketching the cleanest line of any major jurisdiction between a public central bank digital dollar (rejected) and private digital dollars (encouraged and increasingly regulated) . This is the clearest statutory signal yet that the US is choosing private, regulated digital dollars over a Federal Reserve-issued one .