Northern Mariana Islands passes bill to issue government-backed MUSD stablecoin

The Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory in the Pacific, has passed legislation allowing its island of Tinian to issue a government-backed stablecoin.

On May 15, lawmakers in the Northern Mariana Islands House voted 14-2 to override Governor Arnold Palacios’ earlier veto of the bill.

The House vote followed a May 9 decision by the territory’s Senate, which also overturned the veto with a 7-1 majority. The bill had originally passed unanimously through the Tinian delegation in March and was sent to the governor on March 12.

The legislation authorizes the Municipality of Tinian and Aguiguan to issue a “Tinian Stable Token,” formally called the Marianas US Dollar (MUSD), backed by U.S. dollars and Treasury bills held in reserve by the local treasury.

It also enables Tinian’s local government to issue licenses to internet casinos, tying the stablecoin rollout to a broader economic strategy aimed at revitalising the island’s struggling economy.

The local government has partnered with Marianas Rai Corporation as its exclusive technology provider, with plans to deploy MUSD on the eCash blockchain, a fork of Bitcoin Cash ABC.

Supporters of the bill argue the initiative could bring much-needed revenue to Tinian without placing a financial burden on the government.

Marianas Rai Corp. co-founder Vin Armani told lawmakers that the bill could “attract billions of dollars of investment and tax revenue” from the crypto sector.

Clyde Norita, another executive at the firm, described the effort as a way to revive a “dying” local economy, saying the new digital industry could generate income without affecting the island’s culture, environment, or immigration status.

Among lawmakers, Republican Representative Patrick San Nicolas, a member of the Tinian delegation, supported the bill as a way to break dependence on tourism and federal subsidies.

“We need this legislation to unlock our potential,” he said during floor discussions, framing it as a path to self-sustaining revenue.

Among the critics was Governor Palacios, who vetoed it over what he described as “several legal issues” and a lack of enforcement safeguards, and Independent Representative Marissa Flores, who criticized the bill’s ties to online casinos.

“Every time we’re desperate, it always seems that we come back to casinos,” she said, and warned against making decisions out of fear or economic pressure, before the vote.

If launched ahead of schedule, MUSD could become the first government-backed stablecoin issued by any U.S. public entity, beating out the state of Wyoming, which is working toward a similar goal by July 2025

Wyoming passed the Wyoming Stable Token Act in March 2023 and has been developing its own stablecoin backed by cash and government securities. The state’s Stable Token Commission is currently conducting cross-chain tests on platforms like Ethereum, Solana, and Avalanche, ahead of the expected launch window.

However, at the national level, progress on stablecoin regulations has stalled. Two major federal bills, the GENIUS Act and the STABLE Act, have lost Democratic backing due to concerns over former President Donald Trump’s growing involvement in crypto.