GENIUS Act: US regulators propose stablecoin issuer rules

Country reference

• Country: United States (planned expansion country)
• Authorities: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC); FDIC; US Treasury
• Topic: Regulation of payment stablecoin issuers
• Key date: Proposed rules published 18 August 2026; 60-day comment period
• Law: GENIUS Act (Public Law 119-22)

What was proposed

• Reserves (FDIC): outstanding stablecoins backed 100% by high-quality liquid assets, including US Treasury securities and central bank reserves.
• Licensing (OCC): procedures for national banks and federal savings associations to issue.
• AML and sanctions (Treasury): Bank Secrecy Act obligations for all issuers, whatever their size, including transaction monitoring and travel rule procedures.

Federal or state

• Issuers with more than $10 billion of stablecoins outstanding must be supervised by a federal regulator.
• Smaller issuers may opt for a state regime that Treasury certifies as substantially similar.
• Treasury published broad principles for that test in April 2026; the list of certified states is still pending.

Open questions

• How the rules fit with the SEC’s separate crypto asset proposals.
• Final timing: comments close 60 days after publication, and final rules will follow.
• Treatment of foreign stablecoins offered to US users.

What it means for finance teams

• Regulated dollar stablecoins could become a settlement tool for US and cross-border payments.
• Treasury policies should define which stablecoins, if any, may be held and with which custodians.
• Banks and payment firms serving Gulf clients should map the AML requirements now.

Our take

The US is building a bank-style regime for dollar stablecoins. Hong Kong and the UAE are doing the same for their own currencies; the common thread is full reserves and strict AML.