Anchorage Digital Claims “First” GENIUS-Compliant Stablecoin Despite USDC Already Meeting Standards

Anchorage Digital, which is currently the only federally chartered crypto bank in the United States, says it has partnered with Ethena Labs to bring the USDtb stablecoin to the U.S. market under the newly enacted GENIUS Act.

The collaboration will move USDtb, introduced in December, from its current British Virgin Islands issuance model through the Pallas Fund (BVI) Ltd, to onshore U.S. issuance through Anchorage Digital’s stablecoin platform. The token currently has a $1.45 billion supply on the Ethereum blockchain and is backed predominantly by tokenized money market fund BUIDL, issued by BlackRock and Securitize.

Questions About “First” GENIUS-Compliant Claim

Anchorage Digital’s that this is the “first GENIUS Act-compliant stablecoin” appears questionable based on available information. Circle states that “USDC sets a high benchmark for payment stablecoin standards codified in this landmark legislation” and has positioned itself as already operating in alignment with GENIUS Act requirements.

The GENIUS Act was signed into law on July 18, and requires stablecoin issuers to maintain at least a 1:1 basis of United States currency, treasury bills, or other reserves

Ethena Labs has been the focus of some recent market controversy. In October 2024, the Crypto Times reported that crypto investigator Nomad had accused Ethena Labs of misusing 180 million ENA tokens during a farming event, claiming the team controlled about 25% of all staked ENA tokens. The allegations suggested this could “significantly dilute the rewards” for other users. The company responded that the tokens in question met the criteria for participation but did not directly address the question of user reward dilution.

Ethena Labs also experienced confusion in February 2024 when an inaccurate press release was circulated claiming major investors including PayPal were participating in a funding round, which Ethena later clarified was incorrect and described as “an honest mistake.”

Terra Comparison Concerns

In addition to its USDtb product, Ethena Lab’s USDe algorithmic stablecoin has drawn comparisons to the failed Terra-Luna ecosystem. USDe offers high yields which has raised concerns given its similarity to UST’s high-yield model before its 2022 collapse.

Ethena founder Guy Young has labeled comparisons with Terra’s failed UST as a “weak, surface-level argument,” fairly noting that “UST was backed by the LUNA token, which mooned up 100% and dumped 50% in a week” while “Ethena’s USD is fully backed and fully collateralized”.

USDe is a synthetic dollar backed with crypto assets including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and  and corresponding short futures positions, while USDtb is backed by high short duration treasury assets including BlackRock’s BUIDL.

USDtb is currently tradeable on ByBit, Curve and OpenOcean.