OCC’s GENIUS Act rule drafts 100%‑reserved payment stablecoin regime, tightening oversight.
Summary
- Draft rule covers full payment stablecoin lifecycle: issuance, reserves, supervision, and wind-down procedures.
- Only authorized GENIUS-compliant issuers may serve U.S. users, with 1:1 reserve, capital, liquidity, audit, and custody standards.
- OCC and NCUA gain direct authority over bank, credit union, and some foreign issuers, while BSA/OFAC rules follow in separate Treasury action.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency released draft regulations Wednesday outlining how payment stablecoins would be issued, backed, and supervised under federal oversight, according to the agency’s notice of proposed rulemaking.
The OCC opened a 60-day public comment period to operationalize the GENIUS Act for stablecoin issuance, seeking feedback on the full lifecycle of a payment stablecoin from launch and reserve management to supervision and potential wind-down procedures.
The proposal implements the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act, known as the GENIUS Act, which became effective in July and established the first federal stablecoin framework in the United States. The statute permits only authorized payment stablecoin issuers to issue payment stablecoins domestically and prohibits digital asset service providers from offering non-compliant stablecoins to U.S. users.
The draft regulations establish reserve asset standards requiring redemption at par, along with liquidity and risk controls, audits, supervisory examinations, and custody rules. The proposal outlines application pathways for new issuers, introduces capital and operational requirements, and updates portions of the OCC’s capital adequacy and enforcement framework.
The agency stated it would have regulatory or enforcement authority over certain permitted payment stablecoin issuers, including subsidiaries of national banks and federal savings associations, federally qualified issuers, and some state-qualified issuers. The draft extends oversight to foreign payment stablecoin issuers seeking access to American users.
Bank Secrecy Act and sanctions requirements will be addressed separately in coordination with the Treasury Department, according to the notice.
Banking groups have raised concerns about potential deposit outflows to third-party yield products tied to stablecoins. OCC Chief Jonathan Gould stated that any material outflow would be visible and would not occur overnight, according to the agency. Gould noted that the requirement for 100% reserves to support one-to-one redemptions exceeds typical bank capital ratios. In an extreme scenario, the Federal Reserve could serve as an indirect backstop by supporting reserve assets stablecoins hold, including U.S. Treasuries and cash equivalents, according to the proposal.
