Company: CRCL
Filing Date: 2025-08-12
Form Type: S-1
Source: 0001193125-25-178989
Chunk: 47

Company: Circle Internet Group, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-08-12
Form: S-1
Chunk 47
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 turn limit the size of the market opportunity for USDC, EURC, and other potential future Circle stablecoins.

The GENIUS Act will change the payment stablecoin ecosystem and may affect our business in ways that cannot yet be known.

On July 18, 2025, President Trump signed into law the GENIUS Act. The GENIUS Act creates a new federal regulatory regime for payment stablecoins, including the Circle stablecoins, and issuers of payment stablecoins, including Circle. The GENIUS Act leaves much of its implementation to rulemaking by U.S. regulators. While the GENIUS Act has been signed into law, it will not become effective until the earlier of January 18, 2027 or 120 days after the primary federal payment stablecoin regulators issue any final regulations implementing the GENIUS Act (the “GENIUS Act Effective Date”). See “Business—Regulatory policy landscape—The GENIUS Act” for a detailed discussion of the provisions of the GENIUS Act.

Among many other provisions, the GENIUS Act defines “payment stablecoin”, prohibits issuance of payment stablecoins in the United States by anyone other than a permitted payment stablecoin issuer (“PPSI”), outlines a comprehensive regulatory regime for PPSIs as described further below, generally prohibits PPSIs and foreign payment stablecoin issuers from paying interest on the payment stablecoins they issue, excludes payment stablecoins issued by a PPSI from the definition of “security” under the U.S. federal securities laws, limits the reserve assets permissible for payment stablecoins, and clarifies the treatment of payment stablecoins issued by non-U.S. issuers. The impact of these legal and regulatory changes to the payment stablecoin ecosystem in general, and Circle and the Circle stablecoins in particular, will depend in large part on how the GENIUS Act is implemented through rulemaking by U.S. regulators.

Circle intends to meet the requirements to become a PPSI for its issuance of USDC. As a PPSI, Circle will be subject to a regulatory regime that includes, among other provisions, financial crimes requirements; capital, liquidity, and risk management requirements; activities limits; privacy provisions; consumer protection requirements; and provisions related to stablecoin holder priority in insolvency. While we already adhere to and/or have programs addressing many of these requirements consistent with our “regulation-first” philosophy and in order to comply with the requirements of various regulatory regimes to which we are already subject, the specifics of the rules