PANews reported on July 20 that according to Cointelegraph, U.S. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said that the GENIUS Stablecoin Act opened a "backdoor" for the government to create a central bank digital currency (under the guise of privately issued crypto tokens). "This bill regulates stablecoins and provides a backdoor for central bank digital currencies. The Federal Reserve has been planning CBDC for many years, which will open the door to a cashless society and digital currencies for you, and an authoritarian government that controls your ability to buy and sell may use these digital currencies against you."

Some critics believe that the line between central bank digital currencies and centrally managed, government-regulated stablecoins is blurred. Bitcoin advocate Justin Bechler wrote in an X post: "The GENIUS Act forces stablecoins to comply with and control CBDCs; functionally the same as CBDCs, but without the scary name." Saifedean Ammous, author of The Bitcoin Standard, believes that no matter what form it appears, the US dollar is essentially a central bank digital currency that is already subject to state surveillance and is increasingly digital. Jean Rausis, co-founder of the Smardex decentralized trading platform, said: "Governments realize that if they control stablecoins, they control financial transactions."