OCC Finalizes GENIUS Act Stablecoin Rules Ahead of January Deadline

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued its final rule implementing the GENIUS Act on Wednesday, setting out the requirements that stablecoin issuers under its oversight will have to meet when the law takes effect on January 18, 2027, the banking regulator announced.

The rule applies to payment stablecoin issuers that fall under the OCC's jurisdiction, including subsidiaries of national banks and federal savings associations, nonbank issuers approved at the federal level and some state-qualified issuers, as well as foreign issuers and certain custody activities at OCC-supervised firms, according to an OCC bulletin.

Most of the requirements sit in a new section of the OCC's regulations covering reserve assets, redemption, risk management, audits and reporting, custody, applications, the supervision of foreign issuers, and a capital and operational backstop. The rule also covers how state-qualified issuers transition to the federal framework, and when the OCC can revoke an issuer's approval.

Rules on the Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money laundering and sanctions are not included, and will come in a separate rulemaking with the Treasury Department.

"We are providing a clear, practical framework for payment stablecoin innovation, with strong standards for reserve backing, redemption, and risk management," said Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent compared the GENIUS Act to Abraham Lincoln's National Currency Act of 1863, which "established a national framework for bank-issued currency."

The OCC received hundreds of comments on its proposal from crypto companies, community bankers, trade groups and academics, among others. Given "the nascency of the industry," the agency said it would monitor how the sector develops and adjust its framework where necessary.

The road to GENIUS rules

Signed into law in July 2025, the GENIUS Act bars anyone other than a permitted issuer from issuing a payment stablecoin in the U.S., and stops digital asset service providers from offering or selling stablecoins to Americans unless they come from a permitted issuer or a foreign issuer that meets certain requirements.

The OCC proposed its rules in February, opening a 60-day comment period. The proposal also left out anti-money laundering and sanctions rules, which Treasury's FinCEN and OFAC proposed separately in April, requiring issuers to run anti-money laundering programs, report suspicious activity and maintain sanctions compliance programs.

Regulators missed the law's earlier July deadline for finalizing their rules. In August, Gould said the OCC was "very intent on moving quickly and getting a final rule out by November so that we will be able to start processing applications within the new year."