[Editorial] In the Era of Digital Dollars, We Must First Control the Power to Stop Money

The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on October 21 finalized implementing rules for the GENIUS Act governing stablecoins, with the law and regulations taking effect January 18 next year, establishing a framework for dollar-pegged tokens to move from crypto trading into mainstream institutional payments. The rules require stablecoin issuers to hold eligible reserve assets matching circulating supply, with short-term U.S. Treasuries among the qualifying reserves—a structure designed to extend dollar dominance into the digital economy and create new demand for federal debt as total federal liabilities reach $40 trillion. The shift matters because it formally legitimizes dollar stablecoins as core settlement infrastructure rather than a crypto-native niche. What to watch next is how issuers adapt reserve compositions to the eligible-asset list and whether Treasury demand from stablecoin growth becomes a measurable force in short-term funding markets.