The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency released a notice of proposed rulemaking on March 2, 2026, to implement the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act, creating the first federal supervisory framework for payment stablecoin issuers under OCC jurisdiction.

The proposal, published in the Federal Register, would insert a new Part 15 into Title 12 of the Code of Federal Regulations. It follows parallel proposals from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the National Credit Union Administration, completing the initial triplet of agency rulemakings required by the GENIUS Act, which Congress passed on July 18, 2025.

What does the OCC's proposed rule cover?

The notice organizes its requirements into seven operational pillars:

• Affiliate yield presumption. The OCC would presume a violation when an issuer pays interest or yield to an affiliate or third party that separately pays yield to stablecoin holders. Issuers can rebut the presumption through evidence to the contrary.

• Licensing and approval. The OCC deems applications from insured and uninsured institutions approved 120 days after receipt unless the agency denies them. Reviews weigh financial resources, criminal backgrounds, management experience, and redemption policy. Denied applicants have 30 days to seek reconsideration, with a final determination due within 60 days of any hearing. Foreign issuers must file monthly reports on reserves and outstanding balances tied to U.S. customers.

State-to-federal transition. State-qualified issuers with more than $10 billion in outstanding payment stablecoins must move to OCC supervision within 360 days or halt net new issuance. Waivers turn on capital, examination history, and the state regulator's digital-asset experience. A presumption favoring approval applies where a state regulator ran a GENIUS Act-certified prudential regime as of April 19, 2025, and had approved at least one issuer.

Redemption timelines. Issuers must redeem stablecoins within two business days of a request. That window extends to seven calendar days if redemption requests exceed 10% of outstanding issuance in a 24-hour period. Issuers must notify the OCC within 24 hours of crossing the 10% threshold. Disclosures must list the issuer, the redemption obligation, a link to reserve reports, and all fees, with seven days' notice required for fee changes.

Reserve composition. Permissible backing assets include U.S. currency, demand deposits, Treasuries maturing in 93 days or less, reverse repurchase agreements, qualifying money market funds, and tokenized versions of eligible reserves. The OCC is separately weighing diversification requirements for daily liquidity coverage.

Custody and bankruptcy treatment. Covered custodians must segregate customer assets from estate assets, maintain written creditor-protection policies, and exercise possession or control, including over private keys. Omnibus accounts are permitted with safeguards. In bankruptcy, holders receive ratable distributions from reserves when reserves suffice, and first-priority distributions from the estate when reserves fall short.

Capital and operational backstop. De novo issuers must hold the greater of $5 million or any charter-specified floor for 36 months. All issuers must hold a 12-month operational backstop in cash, FDIC-insured deposits, or Treasuries maturing in 93 days or less. Issuers that fall short at quarter-end cannot issue net new stablecoins. Two consecutive quarters of noncompliance triggers mandatory liquidation.

What timeline now applies?

Stakeholders have until May 1, 2026, to file comments. The notice includes 211 questions on all aspects of the proposal. The Federal Reserve and the Department of Treasury are expected to publish additional implementing rules in the coming weeks.

The OCC wrote in the proposal that it "expects the primary effect of the GENIUS Act and the proposed rule to be an increase in the aggregate market capitalization of payment stablecoins in response to an increased demand for payment stablecoins."

The GENIUS Act takes effect on the earlier of January 18, 2027, or 120 days after the primary regulators issue final regulations. The OCC's package positions the agency alongside the FDIC and NCUA as a primary federal supervisor of payment stablecoin issuers and creates the first centralized federal licensing channel for entities seeking to issue dollar-pegged tokens at national scale.