OCC Finalizes GENIUS Act Stablecoin Rules, Effective January 2027
The OCC's 721-page GENIUS Act final rule sets reserve, redemption, capital and permitted-activity standards for OCC-supervised payment stablecoin issuers, drops the proposed yield presumption and takes effect Jan. 18, 2027.
On Oct. 21 the OCC published a 721-page final rule (RIN 1557-AF41) implementing the GENIUS Act for permitted payment stablecoin issuers and foreign payment stablecoin issuers within its jurisdiction, and for certain custody activities of OCC-supervised entities. It takes effect Jan. 18, 2027; BSA/AML and OFAC requirements are deferred to a separate Treasury-coordinated rulemaking. The final rule departs from its proposal: the rebuttable presumption that related-third-party arrangements are prohibited yield payments is eliminated, leaving the statutory yield ban as a fact-specific inquiry; three permitted PPSI activities are added (holding nonpayment stablecoins as principal to pay fees, establishing reserve-asset trusts, managing FX risk, subject to conditions); reserve diversification shifts to a principles-based approach with stress-testing and buffer requirements; no minimum insured-deposit amount is required of custodians; and PPSIs must notify the OCC within 24 hours if redemptions exceed 10% of a brand's outstanding issuance value, with discretion to extend redemption timelines. Bank, payments and treasury clients should map reserve, custody and product terms to these sections before the effective date, and watch the pending Treasury rulemaking and the OCC's separate application-processing announcement. Other roundup items — an Ethereum bank deposit token, stablecoin acceptance and risk-intelligence services, and a DOJ crypto laundering case — are comparatively routine.