Fed Proposes Two GENIUS Act NPRMs on Payment Stablecoin Issuance
The Federal Reserve issued two companion notices of proposed rulemaking on September 24, 2026 to implement its statutory responsibilities for payment stablecoins under the GENIUS Act, opening a comment record for issuers and partners.
What happened: On September 24, 2026, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System issued two companion notices of proposed rulemaking to implement the Board's responsibilities under the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act). These are proposals, not final rules, so nothing is in force and the requirements remain subject to notice and comment. Reporting on the two notices is thin; specific provisions, comment periods and effective dates are not detailed in the available material and should be confirmed against the Federal Register text.
Why sophisticated counsel should care: The GENIUS Act's payment stablecoin prong places the Fed in charge of supervising an issuer category that had no settled federal prudential home. Issuers, bank partners, merchant acquirers and payment networks now face a moving target for scope, supervision and compliance design, and a two-notice structure implies the Board is addressing more than one set of statutory duties in parallel. Comment positions, scoping choices and any later final rules will shape product economics and contract terms.
Practical next step: Read both notices in full, calendar the comment deadlines, and map each proposal against issuer and partner compliance programs; watch for parallel rulemakings by other agencies implementing the same statute.