The banking lobby just accused the OCC of gutting the GENIUS Act's stablecoin yield ban — and crypto is cheering.
In a Wednesday notice, the American Bankers Association said the OCC's final rule dropped the presumption that third-party arrangements could violate the law's yield prohibition. ABA CEO Rob Nichols called it preservation of platforms' ability to offer yield "despite Congress's clear intent to protect local lending," warning the gaps blur the line between stablecoins and bank deposits, threatening the deposit funding behind US lending.
The other side reads the same text differently: the Blockchain Association said the change brings the rule "more closely in line with the statutory text," and the OCC will now judge third-party rewards case by case.
TD Cowen's Jaret Seiberg called the outcome a negative for banks: ambiguity until courts rule, and the risk that whoever wins the White House in 2028 picks a comptroller with a different view on evasion.
So the question: is case-by-case flexibility a feature — or a loophole that turns stablecoins into shadow deposits? NFA, DYOR.
$BTC #Stablecoins #GENIUSAct #CryptoRegulation #Banks
In a Wednesday notice, the American Bankers Association said the OCC's final rule dropped the presumption that third-party arrangements could violate the law's yield prohibition. ABA CEO Rob Nichols called it preservation of platforms' ability to offer yield "despite Congress's clear intent to protect local lending," warning the gaps blur the line between stablecoins and bank deposits, threatening the deposit funding behind US lending.
The other side reads the same text differently: the Blockchain Association said the change brings the rule "more closely in line with the statutory text," and the OCC will now judge third-party rewards case by case.
TD Cowen's Jaret Seiberg called the outcome a negative for banks: ambiguity until courts rule, and the risk that whoever wins the White House in 2028 picks a comptroller with a different view on evasion.
So the question: is case-by-case flexibility a feature — or a loophole that turns stablecoins into shadow deposits? NFA, DYOR.
$BTC #Stablecoins #GENIUSAct #CryptoRegulation #Banks