The US Senate recently approved the GENIUS Act (S 1582) with a bipartisan 68–30 vote —marking a watershed moment for stablecoin regulation. The legislation was soon signed into law by President Donald Trump, who declared a significant victory for the administration. The legislation is the first crypto-specific law ever created, marking a strong contrast to the last administration under President Biden, which was aggressively anti-digital asset.
The legislation states that real money or safe government assets, such as actual cash or US Treasury bills, must fully back every dollar-backed stablecoin.
That means for every $1 of stablecoin in circulation, there needs to be $1 sitting safely in reserve. This rule is designed to protect users and ensure these coins really are as stable as they claim to be.
The GENIUS Act is one of the pillars of a broader global regulatory push, joining Europe’s MiCA and sandbox frameworks in countries such as the UAE and Singapore. Could this create a transformative moment for DeFi, tokenized assets, and institutional confidence in digital finance?
We spoke with Abdul Rafay Gadit, Co‑Founder of ZIGChain, a Layer 1 blockchain designed for compliant, ethical, and AI-powered financial infrastructure.
In an interview with CI, Gadit shares his insights on how the GENIUS Act could reshape real-world asset tokenization, what metrics will determine its success, and how institutions around the world, including those in MENA, are already reacting.
Our chat with Abdul Rafay Gadit is shared below.
Crowdfund Insider: The Senate cleared the GENIUS Act with a 68-30 vote and was signed into law. It creates a framework that requires every dollar-pegged stablecoin to hold 1:1 high-quality liquid reserves. Why do you believe that this single provision alone could change the calculus for real-world asset (RWA) projects?
Abdul Rafay Gadit: The 1:1 reserve requirement is a game-changer because it tackles one of the biggest barriers to institutional adoption: credibility. By requiring stablecoins to be backed entirely by high-quality liquid assets, such as US Treasury bills or cash, the GENIUS Act introduces a layer of trust and stability to the ecosystem.
For real-world assets (RWA) platforms, this paves the way for stablecoins to be used as reliable settlement tools. It effectively bridges the gap between crypto and traditional finance, allowing digital assets to operate within the established financial systems.
When these tokens are fully regulated and backed by liquid reserves, it’s no longer a question of “if” institutions can engage; it becomes a matter of “how fast.” For the first time, we’re seeing stablecoins treated with the same seriousness as traditional currencies, and that integration is what allows tokenized real-world assets to move beyond the crypto sandbox and into mainstream finance.
Crowdfund Insider: Washington isn’t acting in a vacuum: Europe’s MiCA regime is already live, and the UAE and Singapore both have sandbox rules for tokenized assets. How does the GENIUS Act compare, and where might it still fall short if the US wants to stay competitive?
Abdul Rafay Gadit: The United States has a distinct advantage: its capital markets are larger and more influential than any other. Given the size of US’s markets, any regulatory decision made there tends to influence global financial policy.
The GENIUS Act is a meaningful first step, especially in how it addresses stablecoins. But when you look at what MiCA is doing in Europe, or the frameworks emerging in the UAE and Singapore, it’s clear that regulation abroad is already covering a broader scope of things like tokenized securities, cross-border compliance, and full-scale RWA platforms.
For the US to maintain its leadership in financial innovation, it may need to go beyond just stablecoin oversight. The silver lining here is that the US can learn from international frameworks that are already in place. The GENIUS Act doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel; it can build on the groundwork that MiCA and others have laid. That’s a strategic advantage if policymakers choose to use it.
Crowdfund Insider: One of the bill’s core goals is to make stablecoins safe enough that traditional banks will handle them. What new products, such as tokenized treasuries, on-chain trade finance, and tokenized real estate, will be first out of the gate once banks are comfortable using stablecoins as settlement rails?
Abdul Rafay Gadit: Tokenized treasuries and short-term money market products are likely to be the first wave. They’re relatively low-hanging fruit: simple, liquid, and already familiar to both institutions and regulators. But the real game-changer is on-chain trade finance. Imagine digitizing letters of credit or tokenizing invoices and using stablecoins for cross-border settlements. It could free up trillions of dollars currently held in slow, paper-based systems and make moving money across borders faster and cheaper.
Real estate tokenization is another promising area, though it may take longer to scale due to more complex compliance requirements. The real opportunity lies in building smarter financial tools that combine collateral, settlement, and yield generation within a single, automated system. That’s the real innovation; reimagining how financial products are built and delivered from the ground up.
Crowdfund Insider: Analysts now project a $2 trillion stablecoin market by 2030 if this bill becomes law. Does that forecast look realistic to you, and what conditions have to line up for adoption to move that quickly?
Abdul Rafay Gadit: If banks are allowed to issue and use stablecoins for settlements, then a $2 trillion stablecoin market by 2030 isn’t just realistic; it might actually be conservative. We’re talking about a future where both individuals and businesses gradually shift toward on-chain financial instruments as the standard over time.
The foundational pieces are already starting to come together: regulatory clarity through frameworks like the GENIUS Act; the emergence of institutional-grade custody and risk management tools; and the growing liquidity across both traditional and crypto financial rails. If those trends continue, stablecoin adoption could accelerate much faster than many expect.
Crowdfund Insider: You often speak about Shariah-compliant finance. In the Gulf states, regulators are cautious about both leverage and interest-bearing products. How does more explicit US guidance on stablecoins influence conversations in the MENA region about tokenizing sukuk or other Islamic-finance instruments?
Abdul Rafay Gadit: The MENA region often looks to major global financial centers, especially the US, for signals around risk standards and regulatory confidence. When the US introduces a regulated framework for stablecoins, it provides a credible blueprint that Shariah boards and Gulf regulators can use to evaluate new digital financial instruments.
In particular, a 1:1 reserve model, with stablecoins backed entirely by liquid, non-interest-bearing assets, aligns closely with Islamic finance principles. That opens the door for more serious discussions about tokenized sukuk and other Islamic financial products on-chain.
We’re already seeing interest from Gulf regulators in Islamic-compliant stablecoins that follow both the GENIUS Act’s guidelines and AAOIFI standards. In many ways, this is the critical bridge that brings together DeFi innovation and Islamic finance.
Crowdfund Insider: As stablecoins gain regulatory clarity, how do you see the role of traditional financial infrastructure evolving? Will banks and payment processors become direct participants in tokenized settlement, or will new on-chain systems gradually replace them?
Abdul Rafay Gadit: We’re not heading toward a full replacement of traditional financial infrastructure. What we’re seeing instead is convergence. Banks won’t disappear; they’ll evolve. Many are already positioning themselves to serve as custodians, issuers, or gatekeepers for regulated stablecoins. Payment processors like Visa and Mastercard are also building bridges between legacy systems and blockchain, enabling transactions to settle faster and more efficiently.
Over time, decentralized systems will take the lead in terms of speed, cost-efficiency, and programmability. But the legacy players won’t be sidelined; they’ll integrate and adapt to stay relevant. In fact, we’re quickly approaching a world where your everyday transactions, like tapping a card at a coffee shop, could be settled using a bank-issued stablecoin or a trusted crypto asset. The process will be invisible to most users, but behind the scenes, it represents a fundamental transformation of how value moves across the financial system.
This hybrid model, where traditional finance and DeFi collaborate rather than compete, will be critical for scalable adoption and long-term trust.
Crowdfund Insider: What concrete milestones should observers track in the next 12 months? For example, should they examine liquidity statistics, the launch of the first bank-issued stablecoins, or growth in secondary-market volumes to determine whether RWA tokenization is truly gaining momentum?
Abdul Rafay Gadit: If stablecoins are truly going to reshape how value moves around the world, the next 12 months will give us the clearest signs yet.
One of the most important indicators will be whether the first FDIC-insured bank issues a stablecoin. That single milestone would mark a turning point, showing that traditional financial institutions are building on blockchain infrastructure.
We’ll also need to pay close attention to what’s happening on-chain, especially with tokenized Treasury bills. If products from names like BlackRock or Franklin Templeton start to attract meaningful total value locked (TVL), it will confirm that institutional capital is ready to move into this space in a serious way.
We need to look at how actively these tokenized assets are traded and whether the markets have enough liquidity to support real-world usage. Watching the trading volume and spreads on tokenized assets will help us understand whether these instruments are usable at scale, or still too thin to support real demand.
And perhaps the most powerful sign of progress will come from the developing world. The real benchmark will be stablecoins facilitating cross-border settlements at scale whether for remittances, trade finance, or working capital. When that happens, we’ll know the technology is delivering on its promise to make financial systems more efficient, accessible, and cost-effective.
Because at the end of the day, stablecoins are laying the foundation for a new financial system, and now is the time to watch whether that infrastructure is taking shape.