The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) came out with its final rule on implementing the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act.
The final rule sets the requirements for permitted payment stablecoin issuers and foreign payment stablecoin issuers under the OCC’s jurisdiction. It addresses all of the regulations the OCC is required to promulgate under the GENIUS Act other than those related to the Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money laundering, and Office of Foreign Asset Control sanctions, which will be addressed in a separate rule in coordination with the Department of Treasury.
“The GENIUS Act marks a watershed moment in American finance, further cementing the United States as the crypto capital of the world. Just as President Abraham Lincoln’s National Currency Act of 1863 established a national framework for bank-issued currency, the GENIUS Act establishes a federal framework for payment stablecoins in the digital age,” U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said. “The OCC’s final rule carries that landmark legislation forward, providing a clear, practical foundation for private-sector innovation, competition, and American leadership in digital assets.”
In the course of developing the final rule, the OCC received hundreds of comments from a wide variety of stakeholders, including crypto-focused companies, community bankers, trade groups, academics, and more.
“We are providing a clear, practical framework for payment stablecoin innovation, with strong standards for reserve backing, redemption, and risk management. The OCC is drawing on its longstanding supervisory expertise to support responsible growth and innovation for this new industry,” Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould said.
The final rule and the GENIUS Act take effect on January 18, 2027. The OCC will continue to coordinate with other agencies responsible for implementing aspects of the GENIUS Act. On a date to be announced, the OCC will begin accepting applications and waiver requests from prospective permitted payment stablecoin issuers.
The final rule drew feedback from banking and financial organizations, including the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), which cited the potential impact on community bank lending. local communities, and financial stability.
“With an ICBA economic data analysis showing adoption of payment stablecoins could result in a decline in community bank lending of at least $850 billion in the coming years, ICBA has called on the OCC to minimize the negative impacts of stablecoins on credit to local communities, establish strong consumer-protection and safety-and-soundness guardrails, and place appropriate operational limits on permitted payment stablecoin issuers,” ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said.
The American Bankers Association said that while the final rule includes some positive steps, it disagrees with the OCC’s decision to move away from its original position on stablecoin yield.
“The final rule removes the OCC’s originally proposed safeguards that would have addressed indirect arrangements involving affiliates, exchanges and other distribution partners. As a result, payment stablecoin issuers can provide economically equivalent yield while technically avoiding the statutory prohibition. The OCC also declined to adopt a broader presumption against arrangements designed to circumvent the ban,” ABA President and CEO Rob Nichols said. “Those gaps risk undermining the distinction Congress drew between payment stablecoins and traditional bank deposits, threatening the funds banks use to make the loans that drive the U.S. economy.”
Attempting to address deposit flight and economic harm after it has occurred is the wrong approach, Nichols added.
“We will continue to work with regulators and policymakers to ensure the GENIUS Act is implemented in a manner that supports innovation while preserving financial stability, consumer protection and fair competition,” Nichols said.