TL;DR
- The OCC aims to finalize GENIUS Act rules by November, after missing its July target, with a legal deadline of January 18.
- The 376-page proposal regulates the full lifecycle of a payment stablecoin: reserves, par redemption, liquidity, audits and wind-down procedures.
- Jonathan Gould reported an eightfold increase in digital asset approvals compared to the Biden administration.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) committed to finalizing its regulation on payment stablecoins before November, in an effort to meet the legal deadline of January 18, 2027 tied to the implementation of the GENIUS Act.
Jonathan Gould, head of the OCC, announced the timeline during the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium, organized by SALT in Jackson. The agency had already missed an interim target set for July, raising concerns within the industry about the persistence of regulatory uncertainty.
“We are very focused on moving fast and publishing a final rule in November so we can start processing applications in the new year,” Gould said at the event.
GENIUS Act: A Full Cycle Under Discussion
The OCC’s proposal, spanning 376 pages, was published in February and was open for public comment until May. The document covers the complete lifecycle of a payment stablecoin: asset reserves, par redemption, liquidity, risk management, audits, custody, oversight and wind-down procedures in the event of issuer insolvency. Requirements related to money laundering and sanctions were separated into an independent regulation coordinated with the Department of the Treasury.
The GENIUS Act was signed into law by President Donald Trump in July 2025 and will take effect in January 2027. Under that framework, only licensed issuers will be permitted to offer payment stablecoins to U.S. customers. The Treasury, for its part, proposed rules that would prohibit platforms from selling non-compliant stablecoins to users in the United States once the GENIUS Act enters into force.
Gould also noted that federal authorization of digital assets grew eightfold compared to the Biden administration, and criticized that administration’s approach toward the crypto industry as shortsighted. The OCC expects to begin processing issuer applications in 2027, although it did not specify an exact date within November for the publication of the final rule.
