Group of Seven (G7) regulators are moving on stablecoins, with the US enacting its new law, the European Union enforcing Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation and Japan already running a live regime.
So far, the market has been dominated by dollar-pegged tokens such as Tether’s USDt (USDT) and Circle’s USDC (USDC). Regulation is now catching up with the technology, and countries are beginning to allow stablecoins tied to their own currencies.
The G7’s drive to regulate is part of a wider contest over digital money, while BRICS nations are sidestepping private stablecoins in favor of state-issued digital currencies aimed at challenging dollar dominance.
Here’s a look at how the G7 nations are approaching stablecoins.
Japan and the first stablecoin law
Several major economies have laid out stablecoin laws, often pitching them as pioneering. But the first comprehensive framework came from Japan.
Japan amended its Payment Services Act to introduce a regulatory framework for stablecoins as of June 2023. Under that framework, issuance is allowed via trust banks, banks and approved entities.
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Now, it’s a race to see which licensed issuer will launch the country’s first yen-pegged stablecoin.
Startup JPYC appears to be in the lead. It became one of the first companies approved to issue a yen-backed stablecoin. Recently, local fintech Nudge announced its users can repay credit card bills with JPYC, starting from October.
US stablecoin law ripples across the world
The US only caught up in 2025. President Donald Trump signed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act into law on July 18.
The GENIUS Act requires issuers to hold high-quality reserves on a 1:1 basis, bans interest payments to holders and creates dual oversight pathways — federal licensing or state supervision for firms under a $10-billion threshold. Foreign stablecoins can be listed if their home regimes are deemed “comparable.”
The law also covers reserve composition, audits and disclosures, Anti-Money Laundering and bankruptcy treatment.
Though GENIUS is not officially enforced yet, the ripple effect was immediate. Tether announced a US-domiciled stablecoin called USAT to comply with the new law, even as it seeks up to $20 billion in fresh funding that could value it at $500 billion.
While GENIUS is intended to strengthen the dollar, European asset manager Amundi has warned that the US framework could trigger a surge in dollar-backed tokens; it could also backfire and destabilize payment systems.
US regulators have opened consultations on how to judge “comparable” foreign regimes, while banks, fintechs and payment giants are lining up to explore launches under the rule set.
Among them are traditional finance staples like Bank of America, which is exploring its own dollar-backed tokens. Stripe is building Tempo, a payments blockchain for stablecoin flows.
MiCA greenlights stablecoins for EU banks
The EU’s MiCA framework for crypto assets was published in the Official Journal of the European Union in June 2023, and its stablecoin rules were phased in a year later. MiCA applies to three G7 nations: Italy, Germany and France.
MiCA sets reserve, governance and disclosure standards for issuers of “asset-referenced tokens” and “e-money tokens,” the two categories that capture stablecoins. It caps daily transaction volumes for large issuers and requires 1:1 backing with reserves held at credit institutions. Issuers must publish white papers, undergo authorization by national regulators and meet capital requirements.
In 2025, EU regulators began tightening enforcement. Several non-compliant tokens like Tether’s USDT were restricted, as rival Circle announced its euro-backed EURC would be MiCA-compliant.
The EU’s next test will be how consistently MiCA is enforced across its 27 member states and whether euro-denominated stablecoins gain traction against the dominance of dollar-pegged tokens.
On Thursday, a group of nine banks, including Dutch lender ING and Italy’s UniCredit, announced a collaboration to launch a MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin. French bank Société Générale has already issued dollar and euro stablecoins on Ethereum and Solana.
UK’s hot and cold stablecoin proposals
The UK’s stablecoin regime began to accelerate in October 2023 when HM Treasury confirmed that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) would regulate issuance and custody of fiat-backed stablecoins used in payments, while the Bank of England would oversee systemic payment systems and wallets.
In 2025, the UK remains in the proposal and consultation stage. In April, HM Treasury published a draft order to amend the Regulated Activities Order, which would designate issuing and safeguarding stablecoins as regulated activities once finalized.
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The FCA followed up with consultations on detailed rules covering issuer authorization, reserves, redemption, disclosure and custody. Its consultation closed on July 31, with final rules expected in 2026.
Meanwhile, the Bank of England has drawn pushback over floated proposals to cap individual holdings under its systemic oversight framework. Although the central bank is tasked with supervising systemic stablecoins, its governor, Andrew Bailey, has voiced skepticism about banks issuing their own, arguing instead for tokenized deposits as the safer path.
Some banks are exploring other jurisdictions. Standard Chartered, headquartered in London, has announced plans to apply for a stablecoin issuer license in Hong Kong, where the city’s own regime took effect on Aug. 1, 2025.
Canada’s stablecoin law lags behind other G7 nations
Canada has not created a dedicated charter for stablecoin issuers. Oversight is divided across existing regulatory silos.
The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) treat stablecoins, or “value-referenced crypto assets” (VRCAs), as securities or derivatives when they are offered on domestic trading platforms. This means issuers must meet conditions on disclosure, reserves and audits if they want their tokens to be listed in Canada, but the CSA does not license the act of issuance itself.
At the federal level, the Bank of Canada gained supervisory powers in 2024 under the Retail Payment Activities Act (RPAA), which brings payment service providers into a new compliance regime. Stablecoin issuers are not explicitly covered, but the central bank has called for a clear framework to bring them inside the payments system.
Industry players have urged regulators to fold stablecoins into the RPAA. For now, stablecoin issuers in Canada face securities-law conditions if they want to reach investors and could eventually fall under payments supervision once policymakers settle on a final model.
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