Anchorage backs Treasury stablecoin AML framework

Anchorage Digital has backed the US Treasury Department’s proposed Anti-Money Laundering and sanctions framework for the GENIUS Act, saying the rules largely balance regulatory compliance with innovation in the stablecoin sector.

The federally chartered crypto bank submitted a public comment letter supporting the proposal while urging Treasury to provide additional clarity on secondary-market sanctions liability, enterprise-wide AML programmes and correspondent account requirements.

“A final rule that is clear and workable gives regulated institutions the certainty they need to build, and strengthens U.S. leadership in the next generation of payments and settlement infrastructure,”

Anchorage said.

Anchorage argued that regulated stablecoin issuers should not face strict liability for failing to independently identify sanctioned users who interact with their smart contracts through secondary-market transactions.

The proposed rules, issued jointly by the US Treasury Department and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, would classify payment stablecoin issuers as financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act and subject them to AML, customer due diligence and suspicious activity reporting requirements.

The framework would also align stablecoin issuers with existing US sanctions compliance standards overseen by the Office of Foreign Assets Control while introducing enhanced monitoring and recordkeeping obligations.

Support for the proposal has been mixed across the crypto industry, with lobbying groups linked to Hyperliquid and Paradigm recently calling for broader sanctions carveouts and greater clarity on secondary-market compliance requirements.

At the time of reporting, Hyperliquid price was $54.15.