A group of 53 state bankers associations recently sent a comment letter to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency urging the agency to strengthen its proposed rule implementing the GENIUS Act.
The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act established a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins and became law in 2025. Under the law, only permitted issuers have the ability to issue a payment stablecoin to Americans and establishes rules for who qualifies as a permitted issuer.
The associations admit the framework is helpful, but caution that gaps in the rule could allow yield-like benefits to reach stablecoin holders indirectly which would undermine the statute’s intent. The associations warn stablecoin issuers could evade Congress’s explicit prohibition on yield by routing economically equivalent payments through exchanges and other third party intermediaries.
To remedy this, the associations recommend targeted changes to close loopholes and urge the comptroller office to make clear that “solely in connection with” cannot be used to evade the prohibition through nominal additional conditions. The associations recommend a workable supervisory standard that prevents cosmetic structuring designed to replicate yield.
Additional recommendations include a clear prohibition on yield with strong presumptions against indirect payment structures.