Tether faces U.S. stablecoin compliance deadline as USDT risks platform access

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Tether faces usdt compliance

Highlights

Tether and other non-U.S. stablecoin issuers have about two years to comply with the U.S. GENIUS Act for platform access, with some obligations possibly starting in January.
Up to 25% of Tether's USDT reserves are held in assets like precious metals, lending exposures, and bitcoin, which do not meet the new law’s liquidity requirements.
Regulatory uncertainty persists as federal agencies have not finalized GENIUS Act rules despite a first-year deadline, leaving issuers without clear compliance guidelines.

Compliance timeline and unresolved rules

As reported by CoinDesk, the GENIUS Act gives stablecoin issuers a three-year compliance window, leaving roughly two years for Tether and other non-U.S. issuers to align with the new U.S. framework, though lawyers differ on whether some foreign-issuer obligations begin as soon as the law takes effect, likely in January.

The law requires reserves to be held in highly liquid assets such as cash and U.S. Treasuries, and Tether's latest disclosures indicate that up to a quarter of USDT reserves remain in assets that would not meet that standard, including precious metals, lending exposures and bitcoin holdings. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said last year that the company would comply with the GENIUS Act, but the company has not provided an updated public response in recent days on how USDT will satisfy those rules.

Legal interpretation also remains unsettled. Justin Levine, a lawyer at Davis Polk, said foreign issuers must immediately comply with orders to freeze or seize coins linked to illicit actors once the law becomes effective, but still have about two more years to meet broader conditions needed to stay listed on U.S. centralized trading platforms, including likely registration with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

That uncertainty is compounded by unfinished rulemaking. Federal agencies have not finalized their GENIUS regulations despite the law's first-year deadline, leaving companies without a complete regulatory playbook even as initial obligations draw closer.

Our earlier coverage of the CLARITY Act focused on lawmakers renewing pressure for a federal digital-asset market structure framework, arguing that unclear rules and overlapping SEC-CFTC oversight have pushed capital and innovation overseas. The piece highlighted that the bill aims to define whether tokens are treated as securities or digital commodities, filling long-standing gaps that have left firms uncertain about trading, custody, and compliance expectations.

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