OCC Promises Final GENIUS Act Stablecoin Rules by November 2026

Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould said the OCC plans to release final stablecoin rules by November 2026. The regulations will implement the GENIUS Act, the federal framework for payment stablecoins that Donald Trump signed into law in July 2025.

Gould made the announcement on August 19 at the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium, hosted by SALT in Jackson. The OCC already missed an earlier July target, so it is now working at a faster pace to meet the statutory deadline of January 18, 2027, when the rules must be fully in place.

For banks, payment companies and crypto exchanges, this is not an abstract question. Until the OCC publishes the final text, no would-be issuer can file for status, let alone plan a product launch around a firm date.

Why the OCC is racing to catch up

Back in February 2026, the OCC published a 376-page draft rule and opened it for public comment through May. The plan called for a final version by summer. That deadline passed without a result, and the regulator publicly acknowledged the delay.

Gould now points to November instead. He said the agency wants to start processing applications from issuers early next year.

A missed deadline has a real cost. Companies that were preparing to file over the summer got several more months of uncertainty, and banks that planned to launch their own stablecoins before the end of 2026 have had to revise their timelines.

"We are very intent on moving quickly and getting a final rule out by November so that we will be able to start processing applications within the new year."

- Jonathan Gould, Comptroller of the Currency, remarks at the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium (SALT), August 19, 2026

What the 376-page draft actually covers

The rule spans the full life cycle of a payment stablecoin. It sets requirements for reserve assets, redemption at par, liquidity standards and risk management. Separate sections address audits, custody arrangements and bank-style supervision of issuers.

There is also a wind-down procedure for the worst case: how an issuer must unwind operations if it cannot meet its obligations to token holders. Dollar stablecoins have long outgrown their niche origins and now sit inside everyday payment infrastructure, so any regulatory delay feeds straight into issuers' business planning.

For issuers themselves, the hardest part is usually the audit requirement and monthly disclosure of reserve composition. That means ongoing compliance costs that used to fall only on the largest players in the market.

AML rules are moving on a separate track

Anti-money-laundering and sanctions requirements have been carved out into their own rulemaking. The OCC is coordinating that piece with the Treasury Department instead of folding it into the core document on reserves and liquidity.

That split lets the technical rulebook move ahead independently of the slower law-enforcement side of the process. In practice, this separation is likely what gave the OCC room to set a November target at all.

For issuers operating outside the US, that split cuts both ways. The core financial rules become clear sooner, but the full compliance picture won't be settled until the AML rulemaking lands too.

Who will be allowed to issue stablecoins in the US

Under the GENIUS Act, only permitted issuers registered with the OCC or another recognized federal or state regulator will be able to offer payment stablecoins to US users. The Treasury has separately proposed rules barring platforms from selling noncompliant tokens to US customers once the law takes full effect.

In practice, that means tighter oversight for the largest dollar stablecoins, such as USDT and USDC, the main instruments across the global crypto market. Issuers focused on the US market are already preparing to restructure their reserves around the upcoming standards.

For smaller and newer projects, the barrier to entry is rising at the same time. Registration, audits and reserve requirements are expensive, so part of the market will likely consolidate around a handful of large players that already have the resources for compliance.

An eightfold jump in bank charter applications

Gould also pointed to a separate figure: digital bank charter applications have risen eightfold compared with the Biden administration. He criticized the prior approach to crypto risk as shortsighted and framed the new numbers as proof of growing business interest in federal oversight.

Still, more applications don't automatically mean more approvals. So far this is a measure of business intent to file paperwork, not a count of actual licenses issued under the new rules.

• More banks and fintech firms are applying for issuer status, betting on launching as soon as the final rule lands.
• Delay risk: the OCC has already missed one deadline, so the November date is not guaranteed.
• Processing of the first applications won't start until 2027. Even with a November rule, firms will still have to wait.
• The Treasury's parallel AML rulemaking adds uncertainty for issuers operating outside the US.

For Ukraine's market, this regulatory clarity carries an indirect but real effect. Most peer-to-peer trades into hryvnia today run through dollar stablecoins, and clearer US rules could strengthen trust in them well beyond American borders. Anyone looking to exchange USDT for hryvnia would ultimately be trading a more transparent, better-regulated asset.

What comes next

November 2026 will test whether the OCC can hit a deadline it has already reset once. If the final rule lands on time, the first issuer applications should start moving in early 2027, weeks ahead of the January 18 statutory cutoff. If it slips again, the industry faces another stretch of uncertainty right before the GENIUS Act takes full legal effect.

Either way, the stablecoin market has already recalibrated: issuers are planning launches around the November date, not the official January 2027 deadline.