Tether, the El Salvador-based issuer of USDT, faces a deadline to comply with new US stablecoin rules if it wants to maintain access to the US market.

Under the GENIUS Act, foreign stablecoin issuers must register with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and obtain US Treasury certification that their home regulator is comparable to the US regime and that their reserves meet US liquidity requirements.

The rules take effect on January 18, 2027, or 120 days after final regulations are issued, whichever comes first.

A year after the GENIUS Act became law in July 2025, US regulators have yet to finalize the implementing rules.

The law permits reserves to consist of cash, insured deposits, short-term US Treasuries, Treasury-backed repurchase agreements, qualifying money market funds, and central bank reserves.

Analyses cited in the report estimate that Tether holds more than 82,000 bitcoin as well as significant gold reserves, with one estimate putting its holdings at up to 132 tonnes.

Chief executive Paolo Ardoino said last year that Tether would comply with the law.

The company has also launched USAT through Anchorage Digital, a US-based crypto bank, although the token’s market capitalization remains about US$185 million, compared with more than US$186 billion for USDT.

A February 2025 market review put USDT at 64% of stablecoin market cap, compared with 24.5% for USDC.

🔗 Source: CoinDesk