The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has handed in its final: the final rules for stablecoins under the GENIUS Act are here, and the agency says it is the first federal regulator to finalize the details. The rules take effect on January 18, 2027—about three months before operations begin, with the application window not yet open.
The rules cover permitted payment stablecoin issuers under OCC jurisdiction, foreign issuers, and certain custodial activities. They set out requirements for reserves, redemptions, and risk management; BSA/AML and sanctions will be addressed in separate rules, developed jointly with the Treasury Department. Bessent and Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould are on the same page: establishing a workable federal framework for payment stablecoins.
The real fight is over “interest/rewards.” The bill bars issuers from paying returns “solely for holding, using, or retaining stablecoins.” An earlier proposal also included a rebuttable presumption that would treat certain arrangements with third parties as potentially noncompliant unless proven otherwise. The final version dropped that presumption and instead calls for a fact-specific, case-by-case assessment. CoinDesk and The Block quoted officials saying existing rewards programs have no grandfather clause. Whether rebates offered by platforms associated with Coinbase, $USDC, and $USDT pass muster will depend on how regulators assess each case. Banks fear losing deposits; exchanges think the rules leave too little room—neither side got everything it wanted.
The Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve, and the FDIC are still working on their own GENIUS Act rules. Today, the OCC was simply the first to turn in its assignment; the full set of regulations isn’t ready yet.
This is not investment advice.