The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency published its final rule for payment stablecoin issuers on October 21, 2026. The rule completes the federal framework that takes effect on January 18, 2027, the same day the GENIUS Act itself becomes binding, and it applies to permitted payment stablecoin issuers, foreign issuers under the OCC’s jurisdiction, and the custody activities of OCC-supervised banks.
What the rule actually requires
The rule creates a new Part 15 in the OCC’s regulations. Its standards cover reserve asset management, redemption, risk management, audits and supervision, custody, and the applications and registrations issuers must file. Comptroller Jonathan V. Gould described the outcome as a clear, practical framework for payment stablecoin innovation, with strong standards for reserve backing, redemption, and risk management.
Reserve assets must satisfy liquidity and diversification requirements so an issuer can meet redemption requests on time. Risk-management obligations scale with the nature, scope, and risk of the issuer’s activities rather than applying one template to every firm. The rule reaches national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches along with their subsidiaries, plus foreign payment stablecoin issuers under the OCC’s jurisdiction.
The rule arrived after a long comment period. The OCC proposed it on February 25, 2026 and published the proposal in the Federal Register on March 2, drawing hundreds of comments from crypto firms, trade groups, banks, academics, and individuals before the agency finalized it. The agency will announce separately when it begins accepting applications and waiver requests from prospective issuers.
The yield question was simplified, not answered
The GENIUS Act prohibits a payment stablecoin issuer from paying interest or yield to a holder solely for holding, using, or retaining the token. The proposed rule tried to police that ban with a rebuttable presumption that certain payments to affiliates and related third parties violated it. The final rule drops the presumption.
The OCC explains that a presumption could be both too broad and too narrow in a market this new, and it declined to create safe harbors for rewards programs or white-label partners. Enforcement will instead be a facts-and-circumstances exercise. The OCC also notes that the ban is not settled policy, pointing to legislation that could interact with it; until Congress acts, the agency says it must implement the prohibition as written. That leaves a live question for exchanges and wallets that market yield or rewards on stablecoin balances.
Redemption timing and the risk of a run
Commenters warned that letting an issuer freeze or extend redemptions during a spike in withdrawal requests could itself accelerate a run. The final rule works through that tension in detail, including a definition of business day that excludes Saturdays, Sundays, and federal holidays, which matters for the two-business-day redemption window.
What January 18 does not settle
The Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money-laundering, and sanctions chapters are being written in a separate rulemaking, coordinated with the Treasury Department. January 18, 2027 is therefore the start of compliance, not the end of the argument.
Adapted from OCC Finalizes GENIUS Act Stablecoin Rule as the Yield Question Stays Open.