OCC finalizes GENIUS Act rules for stablecoin issuers

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency finalized rules for payment stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act on October 21, setting the standards that banks and other issuers under its jurisdiction must follow from January 18, 2027. The OCC’s announcement of the final rule says it covers reserves, redemptions, risk management and certain custody activities.

The rule turns the law into an operating framework. An issuer first needs approval to issue a permitted payment stablecoin. It must then manage reserve assets, meet redemption requirements and maintain risk controls. The OCC examines and supervises issuers within its authority. Think of the rule as a licensing gate: approval opens the way to issue, while continuing supervision checks how the issuer runs the system.

Which issuers fall under the OCC’s rules?

The rules cover national banks and their subsidiaries, federal savings associations and their subsidiaries, and federal branches. They also cover nonbank entities seeking or holding federal qualified issuer approval, foreign issuers, and some state qualified issuers where the OCC has regulatory or enforcement authority.

The GENIUS Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 18, 2025, generally bars issuing payment stablecoins in the United States without permitted issuer status. The OCC’s final rule spells out how that framework applies to entities it oversees. It also addresses certain custody activities by OCC-supervised firms. The scope is limited to payment stablecoins; the rule does not set a general framework for all crypto assets.

What must issuers do to keep a stablecoin redeemable?

Issuers must meet requirements for reserve assets and redemption, as well as risk management, audits, reporting and supervision. The OCC says the final rule gives issuers more flexibility in managing reserves while retaining liquidity, diversification and concentration requirements intended to support timely redemptions. In practical terms, the reserve is the pool of assets behind the issuer’s promise to convert or repurchase tokens for a fixed amount of money.

The rule creates most of the OCC’s framework in a new section of banking regulations, 12 CFR part 15. It also revises rules on capital adequacy, prompt corrective action, fees and agency procedures. Under the OCC’s summary of the final rule, the proposal drew comments from crypto companies, banks, trade groups, academics and others.

Which requirements are still being written?

Anti-money-laundering, Bank Secrecy Act and sanctions requirements are excluded from this rule. The OCC says it will address them in a separate rulemaking with the Treasury Department. It also says it will announce separately when it begins processing issuer applications and waiver requests.

The effective date is January 18, 2027. Until then, the final rule gives covered issuers and banks a defined set of requirements to prepare for, while key compliance details on illicit-finance controls remain in a separate process.

Source material

• announcement of the final rule — occ.gov
• OCC’s summary of the final rule — occ.gov