OCC Finalizes GENIUS Act Rules for Payment Stablecoins

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency finalized rules for payment stablecoin issuers on October 21, setting standards for reserves, redemptions and supervision under the GENIUS Act. The rule turns the law’s framework into operating requirements for entities the OCC oversees, and takes effect January 18, 2027. In its announcement of the final rule, the OCC said it covers permitted and foreign payment stablecoin issuers under its jurisdiction, plus certain custody activities by OCC-supervised firms.

How does the rule govern a payment stablecoin?

It sets requirements across the path from issuer approval to a holder’s redemption request. First, an issuer must fall within a permitted category and meet the OCC’s application or registration requirements. The rule then sets standards for the issuer’s activities and reserve assets. It also covers redemption, risk management, audits and reports, and OCC examination and supervision. The OCC describes these as parts of a new 12 CFR part 15, alongside changes to existing rules on capital adequacy, corrective action, fees and agency procedures.

The underlying asset is meant to hold a stable value and be redeemable for a fixed amount of money. Reserves are the assets set aside to support that promise; redemption rules govern how the issuer handles a request to exchange tokens for money. The OCC says the final rule maintains liquidity, diversification and concentration requirements for reserves so issuers can meet redemptions in a timely manner. In plain terms, the reserve is the stock behind the redemption counter.

Which issuers fall under the OCC?

The OCC’s final-rule bulletin says the requirements apply to national banks and their subsidiaries, federal savings associations and their subsidiaries, federal branches, foreign payment stablecoin issuers, and nonbank entities seeking or holding federal qualified issuer status. They also reach state qualified issuers where the OCC has regulatory or enforcement authority under the law. The rule covers certain custody activities by OCC-supervised entities as well.

The scope matters because the GENIUS Act generally bars anyone other than a permitted issuer from issuing a payment stablecoin in the United States. It also restricts service providers from offering or selling one in the country unless its issuer is permitted or meets the law’s requirements for foreign issuers. The OCC’s rule spells out the requirements for the issuers and activities assigned to its jurisdiction; it is not a general framework for every crypto asset or stablecoin activity.

What remains outside this final rule?

Anti-money-laundering, Bank Secrecy Act and sanctions requirements are still to come in a separate rulemaking coordinated with the Treasury Department. The OCC said it received hundreds of comments on its proposal; the final-rule text records approximately 328. The agency says it made changes on reserves, redemption and risk management in response, while retaining flexibility to tailor risk-management standards to an issuer’s activities and risk profile.

The OCC has not yet started taking applications and waiver requests from prospective issuers. It said it will announce separately when it begins processing them. That leaves a practical step between publication and launch: firms can see the supervisory requirements now, but the application process has not yet opened.

Sources

• announcement of the final rule — occ.gov
• final-rule bulletin — occ.gov