A Look at ‘Stablecoin Day’ And Why its Matters to Credit Unions

By W.B. King

During the summer of 2025, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act was signed into law. The Act’s regulatory framework gives federally chartered credit unions “clear authority to serve as issuers and custodians of stablecoins once appropriate regulations are implemented,” noted America’s Credit Union’s Head of Regulatory Advocacy James Akin in an October 20 open letter.

“As Treasury develops the regulatory regime for payment stablecoins under the GENIUS Act, we believe it is crucial that the framework not be one-size-fits-all in a way that only the very largest institutions can participate,” Akin said, adding that the “spirit of the legislation” to encourage innovation “should extend to allowing diverse financial institutions, including credit unions, to issue or utilize stablecoins in a safe manner.”

A Stable Day of Chats

For policy wonks, bankers, regulators, and those generally interested in the future of stablecoins, Stablecon, Stable, X, and Borderless.xyz are jointly hosting Stablecoin Day on October 27 in Las Vegas. From 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., attendees will gather to discuss topics such as:

• Cross-border payments and embedded finance.

• The full stablecoin infrastructure stack.

• How stablecoins plus artificial intelligence (AI) enable autonomous economies.

• Global adoption trends.

• Why venture capitalists are betting big on this space.

  
  

“We have brought together the builders and thinkers shaping the future to unpack the technologies, policies, and market forces driving stablecoin adoption,” event organizers stated. “Join us for a curated afternoon of panels, fireside chats, and open networking with the people building real infrastructure, from compliance and liquidity to payments and beyond.”

The Credit Union Perspective

What concerns America’s Credit Unions and Akin most about stablecoin is “illicit finance risks” in the digital asset ecosystem. These include the use of anonymous or non-compliant exchanges, the abuse of mixers and other obfuscation tools to hide transaction trails, ransomware and cybercrime proceeds being laundered through crypto, and fraud schemes targeting consumers, Akin stated.

To prevent these risks, America’s Credit Unions recommends that regulators “facilitate standardized, secure application programming interfaces (API) frameworks that vendors can build into compliance products. Promotion of APIs should remain technology-neutral and not become an implicit mandate.” Recommended best practices also include: 

• Avoid prescriptive requirements that every institution must deploy AI and instead encourage a risk-based approach.

• Provide support through Treasury for initiatives to develop interoperable and privacy-preserving digital identity frameworks. Regulations should encourage the use of reliable digital ID for crypto transactions but should not impose a single solution.

• Clarify so credit unions know how examiners will view the use or non-use of blockchain analytics tools.

• Calibrate regulatory requirements for stablecoin issuers based on the nature of the stablecoin and the risks it presents, not simply on the charter of the institution.

  
  

Those interested in attending Stablecoin Day must “request to join” at the following link. If approved, all event details will be provided.