The US banking regulator OCC (the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency) finalized rules on Wednesday, October 21, for stablecoins under the GENIUS Act. They answer two questions: how much in reserves an issuer must hold, and how fast it must return money to a token holder. For the market, it is the first detailed rulebook from a federal agency.
What exactly did the OCC set?
According to Cointelegraph, the final rule covers issuance of payment stablecoins, their reserves, redemption and some custody activity. Congress passed the law itself in July 2025, and it takes full effect in January 2027. So the regulator finished with time to spare.
How do the new requirements work?
Put simply, the rule turns the promise that "a token is always worth a dollar" into a set of conditions someone can check. Here is what it says.
- Reserves: the value of backing assets cannot fall below the amount of stablecoins in circulation.
- An issuer normally processes a redemption request within two business days.
- Issuers must meet risk management standards that the OCC itself will review.
- The ban on paying holders interest or yield solely for holding, using or retaining a token stays in place.
If you hold USDC or a similar token from a US issuer, the rule fixes a minimum you can count on, namely full backing and payout within a few days.
For comparison, before this rule the market relied mostly on voluntary promises from companies and their own reports. Now the requirements sit in a norm that lets the regulator inspect an issuer and punish violations. That changes what "fully backed" means, because the claim can be checked against one standard.
"We are providing a clear, practical framework for payment stablecoin innovation, with strong standards for reserve backing, redemption, and risk management."
Jonathan Gould, US Comptroller of the Currency, from an OCC announcement dated October 21, 2026
Who has to follow the rules?
They cover national banks, federal savings associations, federal branches and their subsidiaries. Nonbank firms that seek or already hold federal qualified issuer status must follow them too. One more group is added, namely state-qualified issuers, when the OCC has supervisory or enforcement authority over them.
Nobody can apply yet, though. The regulator promised to announce separately when it will start accepting issuer applications and waiver requests.
Why are banks arguing about interest?
In its draft, the OCC proposed a presumption that arrangements with affiliates or distribution partners break the yield ban by default. The final version drops it. The regulator said it keeps the power to act against attempts to get around the ban.
The American Bankers Association (ABA) called this a step that "undermines" the intent of Congress. Its statement says issuers can now offer economically equivalent yield while technically staying within the law. The Bank Policy Institute added that dropping the presumption swaps clarity for ambiguity and risks deposit flight from banks. The Blockchain Association took the opposite view and welcomed the change, saying the text now sits closer to the statute.
Why does this hurt banks? A bank deposit pays interest, and a stablecoin with hidden yield would be a direct rival. If customers start moving money into tokens, banks lose cheap funding, which is exactly what "deposit flight" means. For crypto companies the picture is a mirror image, since yield for the user is the main argument for holding a token.
The fight is not new. Stablecoin rewards were one of the sharpest disputes before GENIUS passed, and they remain on the table in the CLARITY Act, the market structure bill.
What is still unsettled?
The OCC and Treasury will publish anti-money-laundering and sanctions rules separately. The Federal Reserve and Treasury are also expected to issue their own documents within their remits. The CLARITY Act, meanwhile, is stuck after a failed procedural vote in the Senate last month.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called the GENIUS Act a "watershed moment for American finance" and compared it with banking reform in the Lincoln era.
The practical takeaway for users is simple. Until the OCC opens applications, no new licensed issuers will appear under these rules, so the same tokens will keep running until January 2027. It pays to check not just the name of a stablecoin but who issues it, where the reserves sit and on what terms a token can be redeemed.
What does this give stablecoin holders?
In short, the rules make the American stablecoin model predictable, but open questions on yield and oversight can still shift. The market will likely measure other issuers against this bar, Tether and its USDT among them.
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