On 18 August 2026, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Department of the Treasury each published separate notices of proposed rulemaking implementing the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act, Pub. L. 119-22, in the Federal Register at docket No. 2026-16796. The three proposals are at the proposed rule stage. Public comment periods run 60 days from Federal Register publication.
The GENIUS Act classifies stablecoin issuers by consolidated outstanding issuance. Issuers above $10,000,000,000 must register with a primary federal regulator: the Federal Reserve, OCC, or FDIC, depending on charter type, per Section 4 of the Act. Issuers at or below $10,000,000,000 may elect regulation under a qualifying state payment stablecoin regime that Treasury has certified as substantially similar to the federal standard under Section 3. The FDIC's proposed rule requires 100 percent backing of outstanding issuance by high-quality liquid assets, including U.S. Treasury securities and central bank reserves. The OCC's proposed rule establishes licensing procedures for national bank and federal savings association issuers. Treasury's AML/CFT proposed rule extends Bank Secrecy Act obligations to all GENIUS Act-regulated issuers, regardless of size.
Stablecoin issuers currently licensed under state money transmission statutes must determine whether their consolidated outstanding issuance places them above or below the $10,000,000,000 federal threshold. Issuers above that threshold must select a primary federal regulator and complete the relevant licence application. Non-bank issuers above the threshold face new capital and reserve asset requirements under the FDIC or OCC proposals. All issuers, irrespective of size or charter type, must implement compliant AML/CFT programs, transaction monitoring systems, and travel rule procedures for stablecoin transfers under Treasury's proposed rule.
The home-state election for sub-threshold issuers carries structural implications. Section 14 of the GENIUS Act provides that the consumer protection laws of an issuer's home state govern its stablecoin activities conducted in all other U.S. states. Treasury has not yet published a list of state regimes certified as substantially similar to the federal standard, leaving sub-threshold issuers without confirmed state pathway options pending final rules. The interaction between the GENIUS Act stablecoin proposed rules and the SEC's separately issued Regulation Crypto Assets proposed rule has not been addressed by any of the three agencies.
Licentium advises stablecoin issuers, custodians, and payment infrastructure providers on U.S. federal and state digital asset regulatory strategy. Work we undertake includes GENIUS Act charter and regulatory pathway analysis, state regime equivalence assessments, AML/CFT program design for stablecoin issuers, and coordinated comment preparation for multi-agency proposed rules.