Scott Bessent Calls GENIUS Act a ‘Watershed Moment’ as OCC Sets Stablecoin Rules
The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has finalized its guidelines for implementing the GENIUS Act. The rule covers necessities for permitted cost stablecoin issuers, international issuers below the OCC’s jurisdiction, as effectively as sure custody actions dealt with by entities supervised by the company.
Reserve backing, redemption, and danger administration are among the many areas coated by the brand new framework.
OCC Locks In Stablecoin Rules
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent referred to as the GENIUS Act a “watershed second in American finance.” He added,
“Just as President Abraham Lincoln’s National Currency Act of 1863 established a nationwide framework for bank-issued foreign money, the GENIUS Act establishes a federal framework for cost stablecoins within the digital age. The OCC’s last rule carries that landmark laws ahead, offering a clear, sensible basis for private-sector innovation, competitors, and American management in digital belongings.”
The OCC obtained tons of of feedback on its proposal from crypto firms, neighborhood banks, commerce teams, teachers, and different stakeholders. The last rule addresses the laws required below the GENIUS Act, other than provisions masking the Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money laundering, and sanctions enforced by the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Those areas can be dealt with via a separate rulemaking course of in coordination with the Treasury Department. The OCC can even proceed working with different businesses concerned in implementing the legislation.
The company has not but introduced when it can begin accepting purposes and waiver requests from potential permitted cost stablecoin issuers. It stated that announcement will come individually. The OCC additionally plans to observe the trade as it develops and make changes to its supervisory strategy if wanted. Both the GENIUS Act and the ultimate rule are scheduled to take impact on January 18, 2027.
Fed Proposals
The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins, a.ok.a. the GENIUS Act, was signed into legislation again in July 2025. The federal regulators missed the July 18, 2026, deadline to finalize the stablecoin guidelines, as it required a number of businesses to construct a completely new supervisory framework.
In September, the Federal Reserve proposed two guidelines for stablecoin issuers and banks below its supervision.
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