WASHINGTON D.C. – Today, Senator Andy Kim released the following statement after successfully securing key national security and illicit financing priorities into the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act: 

“Right now, dangerous actors like North Korea, Iran, drug cartels and terrorist groups are exploiting the absence of regulation of stablecoin to launder billions of dollars and build up resources that threaten America and our national interests. As someone who worked in Afghanistan and at the Pentagon on countering terrorist financing, I pressed hard to add anti-money laundering and counter illicit financing provisions to this legislation on stablecoins that wouldn’t otherwise have been included. We need a Senate able to move at the speed of innovation, and right now, a largely unregulated but widely used stablecoin market dominated by foreign companies is leaving Americans unprotected. I voted yes after working directly with colleagues from both sides of the aisle to secure specific provisions about serious national security concerns not addressed in earlier bill versions. No doubt that future action will be needed to further strengthen regulations, and I will keep working to continue to improve our economic and national security.” 

The GENIUS Act would establish the first ever federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins, working to protect consumers and safeguard global financial systems. Senator Kim successfully secured provisions in the bill that would help combat illicit financing and give the Treasury Department real teeth to set standards and rules, including to: 

• Require stablecoin issuers to provide an annual certification to regulators that they have implemented anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance programs, subject to civil and criminal penalties. 

• • Senator Kim’s provision would help prevent cartels and foreign terrorist organizations from using the stablecoin market to launder money, evade sanctions, or finance terrorist acts. 

• Authorize the U.S. Treasury Department to set standards and rules to detect and combat illicit financing activity, including expanding their reach from stablecoin issuers to also include interactions with decentralized finance entities. 

• • Senator Kim’s provision would empower the agency to establish regulations that help combat illicit activity and expand their ability to create a framework for future rulemaking. 

Today’s vote is a culmination of work by Senator Kim, who serves as the Ranking Member of the Senate Banking Committee’s Subcommittee on National Security and International Trade and Finance. During the committee’s markup of the bill in March 2025, Senator Kim secured commitments from the subcommittee’s Chairman, Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), to strengthen the national security provisions in the bill. Ultimately, the final provisions Senator Kim secured will help deter bad actors’ use of stablecoins in illicit activities, including terrorist groups, cartels, and rogue states like Iran and North Korea who use this tech to launder money and finance terrorist acts.  

Before being elected to the U.S. Senate, Kim represented New Jersey’s Third Congressional District in the U.S. House and was a career public servant working in national security and diplomacy at the White House, State Department, and Pentagon. Learn more about Senator Kim’s service on behalf of New Jersey here.  

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