OCC issues final rule on stablecoin framework

The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a final rule on Wednesday to establish regulations for firms issuing dollar-based stablecoins. This marks the first federal banking regulator to issue a final rule under the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act. The rule, which is scheduled to go live on January 18, covers stablecoin issuers and their third-party relationships with exchanges.

Under the GENIUS Act, payments made to customers solely for the holding, use, or retention of payment stablecoins are not allowed. Banking Dive reports that the regulation bans direct yield payments to customers from issuers, though the OCC stated it will evaluate third-party yield arrangements on a case-by-case basis. CoinDesk notes that U.S. crypto exchanges with existing reward programs will need to obtain agency sign-off, as the industry will not receive safe harbors for current programs.

The OCC has declined to provide specific examples or illustrations of which rewards operations might violate the GENIUS Act. CoinDesk reports that the regulator intends to apply the statute's language to the specific facts and circumstances of any given arrangement. The agency has also declined to weigh in on third-party stablecoin rewards, according to The Block.

Brief written by urgent.news from Banking Dive, The Block, CoinDesk — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.