Overview
- Comptroller Jonathan Gould said on Aug. 19 that the OCC aims to publish its final GENIUS Act rule in November so it can start accepting stablecoin issuer applications next year.
- The agency’s February proposal runs 376 pages and lays out reserve backing, guaranteed redemption at par, liquidity requirements, audits, custody standards, wind‑down plans, capital expectations, and supervisory processes for payment stablecoins.
- Anti‑money‑laundering and sanctions requirements were excluded from the OCC draft and are being developed separately by Treasury and FinCEN, including a Treasury proposal on Aug. 17 that defines when stablecoins are issued or sold in the United States.
- Federal regulators missed the GENIUS Act’s one‑year statutory deadline on July 18, 2026, and the law takes effect either on Jan. 18, 2027, or 120 days after primary regulators publish final rules, so the timing of remaining agency actions will determine the true compliance window.
- The rulemaking push has coincided with a sharp rise in federal charter and issuer activity at the OCC — Gould said approvals have increased roughly eightfold and the agency recently granted a conditional trust‑bank approval to World Liberty Financial on Aug. 14 — a sign that firms are racing to secure permitted‑issuer status before distribution limits take effect.