Treasury Secretary Bessent likens GENIUS Act to Lincoln-era banking reform

The OCC has finalized rules for stablecoin reserves and redemptions, with Bessent calling the GENIUS Act a “watershed moment for American finance.”

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has compared the Trump administration’s landmark stablecoin legislation to banking reforms enacted under President Abraham Lincoln, drawing parallels between two efforts to establish a national framework for American currency more than 160 years apart.

In a Wednesday post on X, Bessent hailed the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) final rule implementing the GENIUS Act, calling the legislation a “watershed moment in American finance.”

Bessent drew a comparison to the National Currency Act of 1863, which established a federal framework for nationally chartered banks to issue currency. He argued that the GENIUS Act serves a similar purpose for payment stablecoins in the digital age.

Read more