Tether will register USDT in the U.S. under the GENIUS Act’s foreign issuer rules

Tether will begin offering USDT legally inside the United States through the foreign issuer pathway under the GENIUS Act, just signed into law by President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday.

Right after the signing, Paolo Ardoino, the CEO of Tether, said the company will follow the new rules laid out for non-U.S. stablecoin firms, which means USDT, currently issued from El Salvador, will now be eligible to circulate within American borders.

“We’ll be working very, very hard to make sure we comply with the foreign issuer pathway within the GENIUS Act,” Paolo said. “It’s crazy that sometimes people think Tether will not comply.”

He added that the company has three years to fully meet all requirements, including anti-money laundering laws and audited reserves, something Tether has never completed but now intends to do. “We are going to be very precise and very dedicated to that,” he said.

USDT approval won’t stop local stablecoin launch

Even with plans to push USDT through the foreign issuer route, Paolo confirmed Tether still intends to roll out a second product, a U.S.-specific stablecoin designed to meet domestic compliance standards.

The idea for the local stablecoin first came up in April, when Paolo hinted that Tether might need an entirely separate coin for American users in order to avoid legal issues once new legislation dropped. Now, both products will launch side-by-side under different paths.

The two stablecoins are aimed at different types of users. Paolo explained that USDT will likely be used “mostly” by immigrants working in the U.S. who send remittances to their families abroad. “There are a lot of expats [who] work in the United States, and [their] families are at home,” he said.

Meanwhile, the new U.S. coin is expected to serve businesses and institutions that need to stay fully aligned with American laws.

Tether’s decision to pursue both avenues, getting USDT registered and building a local coin, comes after months of speculation that the company might be locked out of the U.S. market altogether.

At $161 billion, USDT is the largest stablecoin in the world, and its future in America had been uncertain as Congress debated how to regulate foreign-issued crypto assets. But with the GENIUS Act now signed into law, Paolo said Tether is moving ahead on both fronts.

Circle says GENIUS Act backs its own strategy

Tether’s plans to go all-in on the U.S. market immediately raised questions about how Circle, the second largest stablecoin company, would respond. Circle is based in New York and has always pitched itself as the more transparent, regulation-first alternative to Tether. But when asked about Tether’s next steps, CEO Jeremy Allaire kept his cool.

“I think the GENIUS Act enshrines in law Circle’s way of doing business,” Jeremy reportedly told Decrypt. Unlike Tether, Circle regularly releases public audits of its reserves and has long worked with global regulatory frameworks.

Jeremy said those efforts have helped Circle form partnerships with major financial institutions, and that the new law will only accelerate those opportunities. “We think that this law obviously continues to accelerate that opportunity for us,” he said.

Jeremy made it clear that Circle plans to continue operating exactly as it has, arguing that the GENIUS Act rewards companies that already follow the rules. Tether’s sudden push for compliance, on the other hand, marks a shift in tone from a company that has historically operated without full transparency.

Despite being the top two stablecoin issuers globally, Paolo and Jeremy rarely end up in the same place. But Friday’s bill signing at the White House was an exception. Both men stood behind Trump during the signing ceremony, and later walked out to brief reporters on what came next. While they were only 20 feet apart, they didn’t speak, didn’t shake hands, and didn’t even exchange a glance.

That quiet standoff said everything. Both Tether and Circle are now racing to control the stablecoin space inside the U.S.—one from El Salvador, the other from New York—and both believe they’re better suited to handle the pressure of America’s new crypto law. There won’t be room for both at the top.

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