OCC Finalises GENIUS Act Stablecoin Rule

The US national bank regulator has finished most of its stablecoin rulebook. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) said on Wednesday that it had adopted a final rule implementing the GENIUS Act, the 2025 law that sets up a federal framework for payment stablecoins. The rule and the Act both take effect on 18 January 2027.

The rule covers permitted payment stablecoin issuers and foreign issuers that fall under the OCC’s jurisdiction, along with certain custody activities at OCC-supervised firms. It does not cover everything. Rules under the Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money laundering rules and Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions requirements are left to “a separate rulemaking in coordination with the Department of Treasury”, the OCC says.

What changed after 328 comments

The agency proposed its rules on 2 March 2026. According to the final rule text, which runs to 721 pages, it received about 328 comments and kept accepting late ones until 1 July.

The biggest change concerns the GENIUS Act’s ban on issuers paying interest or yield to holders “solely in connection with” holding or using a stablecoin. The proposal included a rebuttable presumption that certain transactions with affiliates and related third parties broke that ban. Commenters split: some wanted it widened, others wanted it gone. The OCC says it “has determined to eliminate the rebuttable presumption from the final rule”. The ban itself, which comes from the statute, stays.

Reserve rules have been loosened somewhat. The OCC says the final version gives issuers “more flexibility” on reserve asset management while keeping “core liquidity, diversification, and concentration requirements”. Capital requirements have been “simplified relative to the proposal”, and capital and operational backstop requirements are set out in more detail.

On redemption, the rule says a timely redemption “may not exceed two business days” after the request. The OCC turned down a request for a longer window on cross-border redemptions. It also changed the rule to accommodate issuers structured as special purpose vehicles, which some commenters wanted so that reserve assets would be protected for holders if an issuer went bust.

Applications have no start date yet

Issuers cannot apply yet. The OCC says it will announce in a separate release when it starts taking applications and waiver requests. Its application bulletin says that will happen after the Office of Management and Budget approves the application forms.

The timing matters because from 18 January a company generally needs approval to issue a payment stablecoin in the US, and issuing without it carries criminal penalties. Under the Act, existing issuers with a substantially complete application pending can ask for a waiver of up to 12 months. The OCC says it “generally expects to grant” waivers of the prior-approval requirement to issuers already operating in the US. It does not expect to waive other requirements, noting that issuers have had 18 months to prepare. Once an application arrives, the OCC has 30 days to say whether it is substantially complete and commits to deciding within 120 days of that.

The money-laundering piece is still open

The anti-money laundering rules are the main piece still missing. The final rule text points to a separate proposal on AML, countering terrorist financing and sanctions compliance for permitted issuers, published in the Federal Register on 24 June 2026. Comments on financial crime that came in on this rule will be dealt with there.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called the GENIUS Act “a watershed moment in American finance” and said the OCC’s rule provided “a clear, practical foundation”. Comptroller Jonathan V. Gould said the agency was “providing a clear, practical framework for payment stablecoin innovation, with strong standards for reserve backing, redemption, and risk management”. The OCC added that it would watch how the industry develops and “adjust the supervisory and regulatory framework” where needed.

For firms already working with the OCC, such as Coinbase, which TSN reported had won conditional approval for a national trust charter, the next date to watch is when the application window opens. With less than three months to go before 18 January, it has not been announced.