GENIUS Act Stablecoin Licence: Becoming a US Permitted Payment Stablecoin Issuer

The federal route through the OCC: nonbank issuers and national trust banks

The OCC licenses federal qualified payment stablecoin issuers. There are three kinds: a nonbank entity approved by the OCC, an uninsured national bank chartered by the OCC and approved to issue, and a federal branch of a foreign bank approved to issue. Once approved, a federal qualified issuer is licensed, examined and supervised exclusively by the OCC, and section 5(h) of the Act pre-empts any state requirement for a charter, licence or other authorisation to do business.

The OCC proposed its implementing rule on 2 March 2026, as a new 12 CFR Part 15, with comments closed on 1 May 2026. On 27 July 2026 it published the proposed application forms for comment, estimating 50 applicants a year. On 19 August 2026 the Comptroller said the OCC would have a final rule out by November.

Many firms are combining the route with a national trust bank charter. On 12 December 2025 the OCC conditionally approved five national trust bank charters: First National Digital Currency Bank, Ripple National Trust Bank, BitGo Bank & Trust, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos Trust Company. Further preliminary conditional approvals followed in 2026, including Coinbase National Trust Company on 2 April 2026 and Agora National Trust Bank on 18 September 2026. The Agora decision records that approvals for BitGo, Paxos, Bridge National Trust Bank and World Liberty Trust Company included stablecoin issuance activity, and it requires the bank to conform its stablecoin activities to the GENIUS Act and its rules.

• - OCC proposed redemption standard: no later than two business days after the request, extended to seven calendar days if redemption requests exceed 10% of outstanding issuance in a 24-hour period
• - OCC proposed de novo capital: the greater of US$5 million or the amount set in the licensing or chartering conditions, held for 36 months
• - OCC proposed operational backstop: assets equal to 12 months of total expenses
• - Agora National Trust Bank conditions (18 September 2026): at least US$10 million of tier 1 capital, of which the greater of 50% or US$5 million in eligible liquid assets, plus 180 days of operating expenses in eligible liquid assets, for the first three years

The bank subsidiary route: Federal Reserve, FDIC, OCC and NCUA

An insured bank or credit union does not issue a payment stablecoin itself under this route. It applies for a subsidiary to become a permitted issuer, and the application goes to the bank's own federal regulator: the Federal Reserve for state member banks, the FDIC for state nonmember banks, the OCC for national banks and federal savings associations, and the NCUA for credit unions. The same 30-day completeness notice and 120-day decision period apply.

The Federal Reserve announced two proposals on 24 September 2026, published on 29 September 2026 with comments due by 30 November 2026. One sets application procedures for state member banks seeking approval for a subsidiary to issue. The other sets requirements for Board-supervised issuers, including reserves, redemption within two business days, capital built from risk-based components, the tying prohibition that applies to every permitted issuer, and the transition of uninsured state-chartered depository institutions that exceed US$10 billion. The FDIC proposed its application rule on 19 December 2025 and its requirements and standards on 10 April 2026. The NCUA published proposals on 12 February 2026 and 18 May 2026.

Section 16(d) of the Act adds a practical benefit for state-chartered banks: a state bank with a permitted issuer subsidiary may engage in money transmission or custody through that subsidiary in any state, provided its home state requires and regularly reassesses adequate capital and liquidity.

The state route and the US$10 billion cap

A state qualified issuer is an entity established under state law and approved by a state payment stablecoin regulator. It may stay under state supervision only while its consolidated outstanding issuance is no more than US$10 billion, and only if the state regime is substantially similar to the federal framework. Treasury proposed the principles for that test on 3 April 2026.

Each state regulator must submit an initial certification to the Stablecoin Certification Review Committee no later than one year after the effective date, which is 18 January 2028. The Committee, chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury, must approve or deny within 30 days. Its interim final rule setting the forms and procedures took effect on 30 September 2026, with comments due by 30 November 2026, but certifications will only be accepted once the information collection is approved. New York's Department of Financial Services published a draft Part 202 of its regulations on 9 June 2026, designed to take effect on the GENIUS Act's effective date.

Once outstanding issuance exceeds US$10 billion, a state qualified issuer must either move to the federal framework within 360 days or stop issuing new coins until it is back below the cap. A state-chartered depository institution transitions to its primary federal regulator, and other issuers to joint oversight with the OCC. The federal regulator may grant a waiver to remain solely state supervised, and an issuer supervised by a state with an established, certified regime that has already approved issuers is presumed eligible.

Foreign issuers and comparable-regime determinations

A foreign payment stablecoin issuer is one organised or domiciled outside the United States, or in a US territory, that is not a permitted issuer. Its coin can be offered to US persons through digital asset service providers only if four conditions are met: Treasury has determined that its home regime is comparable to the GENIUS Act, the issuer is registered with the OCC, it holds reserves in a US financial institution sufficient for US customers' liquidity needs (unless a reciprocal arrangement provides otherwise), and its home country is not under comprehensive US sanctions or designated a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern.

Treasury may make a comparability determination only on the recommendation of every other member of the Stablecoin Certification Review Committee, must publish its justification in the Federal Register, and must decide a substantially complete request within 210 days. OCC registration is deemed approved 30 days after filing unless the OCC rejects it. A registered foreign issuer accepts OCC reporting and examination and consents to US jurisdiction for enforcement of the Act. As at 20 October 2026 no comparability determination had been published in the Federal Register.

From the effective date, a digital asset service provider may not make a foreign issuer's coin available in the United States unless the issuer has the technological capability to comply, and will comply, with US lawful orders. Treasury's proposal of 18 August 2026 would let a platform rely on the issuer's representation only after reasonable due diligence.

Reserves, redemption, monthly attestation, BSA/AML and sanctions

These obligations apply on every route. Reserves must back outstanding coins at least 1 to 1 and be held only in the listed asset types. The issuer publishes the reserve composition every month, a registered public accounting firm examines it every month, and the CEO and CFO certify its accuracy to the regulator every month. Knowingly false certification carries the criminal penalties that apply to false financial statement certifications under 18 U.S.C. 1350.

For anti-money laundering, the Act treats the issuer as a financial institution under the Bank Secrecy Act. Treasury, FinCEN and OFAC proposed the AML and sanctions programme rule on 10 April 2026, and a customer identification programme rule was proposed on 22 June 2026. Within 180 days of approval, and annually after that, the issuer certifies that its AML and sanctions programmes are reasonably designed to prevent money laundering, in particular for cartels and designated foreign terrorist organisations.

What exchanges and custodians must do before 18 July 2028

A digital asset service provider is any person that, for compensation or profit, exchanges digital assets for money or other digital assets, transfers digital assets to third parties, acts as a digital asset custodian or participates in financial services relating to digital asset issuance, in the United States or for US users. Protocol developers, validators and self-custody wallet software are excluded.

From 18 July 2028 a provider may not offer or sell a payment stablecoin to a person in the United States unless a permitted issuer, or under Treasury's proposal a compliant foreign issuer, issued it. From 18 January 2027 a provider already needs to confirm that any foreign issuer's coin it makes available can be frozen and blocked under US lawful orders. A coin issued by a non-permitted issuer also cannot be treated as cash or a cash equivalent for accounting, used as cash-equivalent margin by broker-dealers and futures firms, or used as a settlement asset between banks.

Custodians of reserves, of stablecoins used as collateral or of private keys used to issue permitted coins must be supervised by a federal or state banking regulator or by the SEC or CFTC, treat customer property as the customer's, segregate it and give customers priority over other creditors. Treasury's proposal treats an offer as including advertising to US persons, responding to unsolicited US enquiries and helping users evade location controls. It also offers a safe harbour for platforms that reasonably believe the customer is outside the United States, run controls designed to exclude US persons, and do not target them.

Rulemaking status at 20 October 2026

The Act required regulators to issue implementing rules by 18 July 2026. Every rule needed for issuers is still at proposal stage, which is why preparation should follow the statute now and adjust to the final rules when they are issued.