GENIUS Act Stablecoin Rules Take Effect
OCC · TradFi · January 18, 2027
The OCC's final GENIUS Act rule takes effect January 18, 2027, setting federal standards for US payment stablecoin issuers.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued its final rule implementing the GENIUS Act on October 21, 2026, in Bulletin 2026-50. The effective date is January 18, 2027, which is 18 months after the Act was signed on July 18, 2025. The rule sets standards for payment stablecoin issuance and related activities: reserve assets, redemption procedures, risk management, custody, audits, reporting, issuer applications and registrations, supervision of foreign issuers, and capital and operational backstops. It covers subsidiaries of national banks and federal savings associations, federally approved nonbank issuers, and some state-qualified issuers. The OCC can grant up to a one-year compliance waiver, but only to issuers whose applications are pending on January 18, 2027. Bank Secrecy Act and sanctions rules will come in a separate rulemaking.