The U.S. Treasury has opened another rulemaking step for the GENIUS Act, this time aimed at defining who is issuing a U.S. payment stablecoin and which entities must follow the law's issuer requirements.

The proposal matters because those definitions will shape the boundary between domestic issuers, foreign stablecoin firms, banks, and other businesses that may touch dollar-denominated payment tokens. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the department is moving to implement the framework and is seeking stakeholder input as it works toward clearer rules for payment stablecoins.

According to the reported proposal, Treasury is treating payment stablecoins as a distinct product category rather than simply importing traditional investment rules. The notice says payment stablecoins are intended to serve as a means of payment and settlement, including across borders, and that applying conventional investment frameworks too broadly could work against that purpose.

The rulemaking follows Treasury's earlier advance notice and comes as regulators continue filling in the GENIUS Act's implementation details. Public comments are expected to run for 60 days, giving issuers, banks, exchanges, consumer advocates, and offshore stablecoin operators a chance to argue how the final definitions should be drawn.

For crypto markets, the key issue is practical: the final rule will influence who can issue payment stablecoins into the U.S. market, what licensing path applies, and how much room remains for foreign issuers that already dominate global liquidity.