OCC finalizes GENIUS Act stablecoin rules ahead of January deadline

On October 21, 2026, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued its final rule implementing the GENIUS Act, establishing federal standards for payment stablecoin issuers ahead of the January 18, 2027 effective date. The rule sets a $5 million capital floor, mandates two-day redemptions, and eliminates a proposed rebuttable presumption against affiliate reward programs in favor of case-by-case oversight. Anti-money laundering and sanctions rules remain subject to separate Treasury Department rulemaking.

Scope and timeline of OCC rule

• ▪The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a final rule on October 21, 2026 to implement the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act for payment stablecoin issuers and custody services
• ▪The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's final rule implementing the GENIUS Act applies to national bank subsidiaries, federally approved nonbank issuers, state-qualified issuers, foreign issuers, and custody activities at supervised financial institutions
• ▪The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency final rule implementing the GENIUS Act and the GENIUS Act take effect concurrently on January 18, 2027

Operational requirements for stablecoin issuers

• ▪The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency eliminated a proposed automatic seven-day redemption extension for payment stablecoin issuers when daily requests exceed 10% of issuance, requiring issuers to request agency approval within 24 hours instead
• ▪The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency final rule establishes a $5 million minimum capital floor for payment stablecoin issuers under its supervision, extending the capital floor requirement beyond three years
• ▪The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's final rule implementing the GENIUS Act requires payment stablecoin issuers to honor holder redemption requests within two business days
• ▪The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency adopted a principles-based reserve asset diversification approach requiring minimum daily liquidity and counterparty concentration limits for stablecoin issuers

Treatment of stablecoin reward programs

• ▪The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency will review third-party yield and reward arrangements on a case-by-case basis through license applications, ongoing supervision, and public guidance
• ▪Existing stablecoin rewards programs operated by cryptocurrency exchanges will not receive automatic safe harbors or presumptions of compliance under the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's final rule implementing the GENIUS Act
• ▪The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency removed a proposed rebuttable presumption from its final rule implementing the GENIUS Act that would have automatically treated affiliate and third-party rewards arrangements as violating the GENIUS Act yield ban
• ▪The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency suggested that rewards provided at least in part for reasons other than solely holding or using a stablecoin fall outside the GENIUS Act's statutory prohibition

GENIUS Act ban on yield

• ▪Cryptocurrency platforms offer yield incentives on stablecoins, including PayPal at 4% on PYUSD, Coinbase One at 3.75% on USDC, and Kraken+ at up to 4.5% on USDG
• ▪Under the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, payments made to customers solely in connection with holding, using, or retaining a payment stablecoin are prohibited

Interagency and AML rulemakings

• ▪In April 2026, FinCEN and the Office of Foreign Assets Control proposed joint regulations requiring stablecoin businesses to maintain anti-money laundering programs and transaction-freezing capabilities
• ▪Additional rulemakings implementing aspects of the GENIUS Act remain underway at the Treasury Department, Federal Reserve, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation