The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) published its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to implement the provisions of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act.
Enacted in July 2025, the GENIUS Act establishes a national regulatory framework for payment stablecoin issuance and related activities in the United States. The proposed rulemaking would apply only to permitted payment stablecoin issuers (PPSIs) and foreign payment stablecoin issuers under the OCC’s jurisdiction, as well as certain custody activities conducted by other OCC-supervised entities.[1]
Comments on the proposed rule are due by May 1, 2026. The GENIUS Act will take effect on the earlier of 120 days after the OCC issues its final rules or January 18, 2027.
The proposed rule
Scope and key definitions
The proposal is limited to activities related to “payment stablecoins.” Consistent with the GENIUS Act, a payment stablecoin would be defined as a digital asset designed or used as a means of payment or settlement, whose issuer is obligated to convert, redeem or repurchase the payment stablecoin for a fixed amount of monetary value and who represents – explicitly or by reasonable expectation – that it will maintain the asset’s value relative to that fixed amount. The definition would exclude national currencies, securities and deposits (including deposits recorded through distributed ledger technology).
In alignment with the GENIUS Act, the proposed rule would prohibit an individual from issuing a payment stablecoin in the US without being a PPSI.
Highlights
Key provisions of the proposed rule include:
- Licensing and supervision. Entities seeking to issue payment stablecoins would be required to obtain approval from the OCC beforehand. Certain regulated foreign payment stablecoin issuers are exempt from this approval requirement but would still be required to register with the OCC. The OCC proposes a review period of 120 days from the submission of an application that is substantially complete. An application would be deemed approved if the OCC fails to render a decision within this time frame. Consistent with the GENIUS Act, the proposed rule would permit issuers with $10 billion or less in total outstanding issuance to opt in to a state regulatory regime – thereby becoming a “state qualified payment stablecoin issuer” – if the issuer and state regulatory regime meet certain requirements.
- Permissible activities. The proposal would authorize PPSIs to engage in four main types of activities related to payment stablecoins, including those that directly support these activities: issuing payment stablecoins, redeeming payment stablecoins, managing reserves, and providing custody and safekeeping services.
- Prohibited activities. PPSIs would not be allowed to engage in rehypothecation or misrepresent the status of payment stablecoins (i.e., whether insured or backed by the US government). The proposal also prohibits issuers from paying interest or yield (e.g., cash, tokens) to holders of payment stablecoins solely in connection with the holding, use or retention of the payment stablecoin. According to the proposed rule, arrangements involving interest payments from third parties may be presumed to fall under this prohibition.
- Reserve assets. The proposed rule would require PPSIs to maintain reserves that back outstanding payment stablecoins on a one-to-one basis and to diversify their reserve asset portfolio. Under the proposal, reserve assets must comply with several requirements, including that they cannot be comingled with other assets owned by the issuer, must have a total fair value that at least equals the value of the issuer’s outstanding payment stablecoins, and are held directly by the issuer or a custodian that qualifies as an eligible financial institution. The proposal lists eight types of reserve assets that would be permitted under the rule, including US currency, deposits at an insured depository institution payable on demand, securities and certain tokenized assets. The proposed rule also provides minimum liquidity requirements to help ensure issuers’ ability to meet redemption requests.
- Redemption. The proposal would establish redemption compliance requirements, including disclosure requirements (e.g., fees, change notices) and minimum requirements to be included in redemption policies (e.g., redemption time frames and exceptions, thresholds). The proposal would also require PPSIs to publicly disclose their respective redemption policies.
- Other requirements. The proposed rule also addresses risk management, audits and supervision, the transition of state issuers to the federal regulatory framework, examination and supervision of foreign issuers, custodial requirements, and minimum capital requirements.
The OCC requests comments on all aspects of the proposed rule, including feedback on more than 200 questions covering a range of topics related to the payment stablecoin issuance regulatory framework.
Looking ahead
In addition to any final rule issued by the OCC based on this proposed rulemaking, the OCC plans to engage in a separate rulemaking to cover anti-money laundering and sanctions requirements related to entities engaged in stablecoin issuance and related activities.
The OCC’s proposed rulemaking follows the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)’s release of its NPRM to establish the application process for FDIC-supervised banks seeking to issue payment stablecoins through subsidiaries
[1] Issuers subject to the OCC’s regulatory or enforcement authority include national banks and their subsidiaries, federal savings associations and their subsidiaries, federal branches and their subsidiaries, foreign payment stablecoin issuers, nonbank entities that seek to be or are approved as federal-qualified payment stablecoin issuers, and state-qualified payment stablecoin issuers over whom the OCC has regulatory or enforcement authority under Act. 12 U.S.C. 5903, 5906.