The OCC’s GENIUS Act rule establishes a stable 100% set-aside payment regime, strengthening oversight.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency released proposed regulations Wednesday outlining how payment stablecoins would be issued, supported 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, soliciting comments on the full lifecycle of a payments stablecoin, from launch and reserve management to supervision and potential liquidation procedures.
The proposal implements the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for Stablecoins in the United States Act, known as the GENIUS Act, which took effect in July and established the first federal framework for stablecoins in the United States. The law only allows licensed 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 standards on reserve assets requiring repayment at par, as well as liquidity and risk controls, audits, supervisory reviews and custody rules. The proposal outlines application pathways for new issuers, introduces capital and operating requirements, and updates portions of the OCC’s capital adequacy and enforcement framework.
The agency said it would have regulatory or enforcement authority over certain authorized stablecoin issuers, including subsidiaries of national banks and federal savings associations, federally qualified issuers, and certain state qualified issuers. The project extends oversight to foreign issuers of payment stablecoins seeking access to U.S. users.
The 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 over potential deposit outflows to third-party yield products linked to stablecoins. OCC chief Jonathan Gould said any significant releases would be visible and would not happen overnight, according to the agency. Gould noted that the 100% reserve requirement to support individual buyouts exceeds typical bank capital ratios. In an extreme scenario, the Federal Reserve could serve as an indirect safety net by supporting reserve assets held by stablecoins, including U.S. Treasuries and cash equivalents, according to the proposal.