OCC Proposes Reserve and Risk Rules for Stablecoins

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has issued a proposed rulemaking to implement the GENIUS Act, the stablecoin legislation that was signed into law by President Donald Trump in July 2025.

The proposed rule addresses most of the regulations the OCC is required to implement under the GENIUS Act. Those that are not addressed in this rule are related to the Bank Secrecy Act, Anti-Money Laundering and Office of Foreign Asset Control sanctions and will be addressed in a separate rulemaking together with the Department of Treasury, the OCC said in a Wednesday (Feb. 25) press release.

The current proposed rule addresses standards and requirements related to activities, reserve assets, risk management, custody, capital and operational backstop, and other issues related to payment stablecoins, the OCC said in a bulletin issued Wednesday.

The OCC will accept comments on the proposed rule for 60 days from the data of publication in the Federal Register, according to the release.

“The OCC has given thoughtful consideration to a proposed regulatory framework in which the stablecoin industry can flourish in safe and sound manner,” Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould said in the release. “We welcome feedback on the proposal to inform a final rule that is effective, practical and reflects broad industry perspective.”

Gould was also set to address the GENIUS Act in testimony at a Thursday (Feb. 26) Senate Banking Committee hearing that covered the OCC’s priorities and activities.

“Innovation has driven American finance from the telegraph to the blockchain,” Gould said in a prepared speech. “The GENIUS Act is this Congress’s effort to advance American innovation through payment stablecoins, and we look forward to comments on our proposal to implement it.”

The GENIUS Act and other crypto issues were prominent topics during the Senate Banking Committee hearing, which was a routine hearing on oversight of the OCC and other banking regulators, CoinDesk reported Thursday.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) took its first action to implement the GENIUS Act in December 2025, when it approved a notice of proposed rulemaking that would establish procedures under which the insured depository institutions the regulator supervises could seek to issue stablecoin payments.