The GENIUS Act Prompted Victory Laps. Then the Compliance Implications Started Sinking In.

Financial scams and crimes are rampant. Anti-money laundering and other countermeasures are continually being ramped up, all the more so in response to criminal exploitation of cryptocurrency platforms.

Security, transparency and customer-protection provisions were necessary to rally bipartisan support for the GENIUS Act, the landmark U.S. stablecoin statute that President Donald Trump signed into law in July, and to move ahead with still-pending digital-asset legislation.

Proponents hailed the GENIUS Act as a long-awaited infusion of regulatory clarity. It was a shot in the arm to top stablecoin issuers Tether and Circle, as well as smaller rivals, and sparked numerous product initiatives and alliances among banks, payments organizations and technology providers.

Meanwhile, debate continues over the magnitude of crypto crime relative to the global money-laundering toll of as much $2 trillion annually, as estimated by the UN Office of Drugs and Crime.

It is a common refrain in the crypto community that problems remain far more severe in the cash economy and traditional finance. TRM Labs’ February 2025 Crypto Crime Report placed...