The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on February 25, 2026 issued a proposal to implement significant portions of the GENIUS Act, the framework for stablecoin regulation signed into law in July 2025. The rule clarifies the scope of “permitted payment stablecoin issuers” and sets out the core activities, reserve requirements, and supervisory expectations for federal issuers. Public comments are invited for 60 days from publication in the Federal Register as the agency seeks to flesh out a comprehensive federal regime.
The proposal requires PPSIs to maintain reserve assets that at least equal the value of outstanding stablecoins on a 1-to-1 basis, with a new rule that the fair market value must match or exceed issuance par value at all times. It introduces two paths for reserve diversification—Option A, a principles-based approach with a safe harbor, and Option B, a mandatory quantitative framework—each with daily liquidity, weekly liquidity, and concentration metrics. The rule would also impose a minimum insured deposit reserve and require look-through of custodial arrangements to ensure diversification across eligible institutions.
The OCC would tailor capital and liquidity requirements to each PPSI rather than applying a universal ratio, with an initial de novo period around three years and a regulatory floor of $5 million. Only common equity tier 1 and additional tier 1 capital would count toward regulatory capital, and there would be no AOCI opt-out. Examinations would be regular and risk-management standards would be anchored in the agency’s safety-and-soundness framework, with a focus on scalable risk controls.
Additional provisions address covered custodians’ duties, the transition for large state issuers exceeding $10 billion in circulation to federal oversight, and detailed PPSI application requirements. The OCC has asked more than 200 questions for public input, including possible deviations such as single-brand limitations, size-based tailoring, reserve buffers or haircuts, capital charges, downstream customers, and mandatory deposit holdings, underscoring the breadth of factors under consideration as the final rule takes shape.
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