In the United States, the debate over stablecoins has moved from theory to law. On July 18, 2025, President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act, the first federal framework for payment stablecoins. These coins are often described as a kind of “digital dollar,” but they are not a U.S. central bank digital currency. A CBDC would be a liability of the Federal Reserve, while stablecoins are private digital tokens designed to stay at one dollar. Under the new law, approved issuers must keep one-to-one reserves in liquid assets such as dollars or short-term Treasuries, and they must publish monthly information about those reserves. (whitehouse.gov)
The real question is whether these private digital dollars will weaken banks. Banks fear that if people move money from checking accounts into stablecoins, banks could lose deposits and have less money to support lending. That is why yield, or interest-like rewards on stablecoins, has become such a sensitive issue. Reuters reported on May 1, 2026, that Coinbase said a compromise had been reached on a key Senate provision after banks pushed for tighter limits on rewards that might function like bank interest. Yet the picture is more complicated. A White House analysis released on April 8, 2026, argued that banning stablecoin yield would do little to protect bank lending, and a Federal Reserve speech in November 2025 said broad deposit flight seems unlikely because GENIUS Act stablecoins do not pay yield and are not backed by deposit insurance. (investing.com)
So the most likely future is not “stablecoins replace banks,” but “banks adapt.” Federal Reserve research says stablecoins grew by about 50% in 2025, and Treasury is still writing rules to enforce anti-money-laundering and sanctions requirements under the new law. At the same time, Visa is integrating stablecoins into payments, and major banks such as Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, UBS, and Citi have explored issuing their own stablecoins or joining related projects. In other words, the digital dollar may change banking less by destroying banks than by pushing them to compete in a faster, more global payments market. (federalreserve.gov)










