In early 2025, President Donald Trump launched a bold initiative to modernise the U.S. financial-payments infrastructure — one that aims to retire the “old-school” legacy rails and replace them with emerging crypto-based systems by 2028. This move comes alongside his public rejection of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for the United States, favouring instead a framework built around regulated fully-backed stablecoins and tokenised deposits under his so-called GENIUS Act.
The GENIUS Act and the shift to Stablecoins
On 18 September, the U.S. Treasury announced the beginning of consultations under the GENIUS Act, which would set the licensing, capital and liquidity requirements for banks and payment firms authorised to issue fully-backed stablecoins. The core idea: instead of creating a U.S. CBDC, allow regulated private parties (banks + payment firms) to issue dollar-pegged tokens backed by U.S. cash and short-term treasury bills — thereby preserving the greenback’s global reserve status while modernising the payment layer.
Trump emphasised that the existing payment architecture is “decades old,” characterised by costly, slow transfers, sometimes taking days or even weeks. The new approach, he said, will upgrade that infrastructure with modern crypto-tech, boost demand for U.S. Treasuries, reduce interest rates and reinforce the USD’s global dominance.
Current Payment Systems & Crypto’s Competitive Edge
Even today, legacy systems like FedNow (2.5 million payments, $307 billion in Q3 2025) and RTP (US real-time payments) are growing. Internationally, SWIFT’s GPI already delivers ~90% of cross-border transactions to destination banks within 1 hour.
Yet crypto-based systems hold distinct advantages: 24/7 availability, weekend and cross-border settlements, programmable money and more capital-efficient rails. Major card networks like Visa and Mastercard are already exploring stablecoin payments without altering end-user experiences.
The Road Ahead: Multi-Layer Infrastructure
The envisioned future architecture looks multi-layered:
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A foundation layer of tokenised deposits and fully-backed stablecoins issued by banks or licensed firms.
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On top of that, domestic rails such as FedNow or RTP and international rails like SWIFT GPI will continue, but now interoperable with crypto rails.
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Over time (~2026 and beyond), rules on capital, liquidity, bank balance-sheet treatment of tokenised cash, and stablecoin network pricing (weekend, FX) will be finalised.
Is the System Actually Being Replaced? Not Yet.
While the policy direction is clear, implementation lags. The GENIUS Act rules are still in consultation; banks await capital/liquidity standards; new merchant acceptors using tokenised rails remain in pilot phases. Thus far, we are seeing evolution — not wholesale replacement — of the legacy payment system.
Why This Matters
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Global USD dominance: By linking stablecoins to U.S. Treasuries and deposits, the U.S. aims to cement the greenback’s status even in a crypto-enabled future.
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Competitive pressures: Traditional rails are under threat — if crypto-rails prove faster, cheaper, programmable, they could disrupt.
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Regulatory significance: The outcome of the GENIUS Act and banking-capital rules will determine whether the U.S. leads or lags in payment innovation.
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Investment implications: The move underscores the growing importance of stablecoins, tokenised deposits and the pay-tech infrastructure — not (just) speculative crypto assets.
Final Thoughts
President Trump appears to be steering in the “right direction” in the sense that the U.S. is taking concrete steps to modernise payments via regulated crypto-tokens rather than a traditional CBDC. But the big question is: Will the legacy system be fully replaced by 2028? The article suggests no — we are more likely to see a hybrid, layered architecture.
In short: the shift is real, ambitious and significant — but the finish line is still some distance away.
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