The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has released the final rule implementing the GENIUS Act, setting a federal framework for payment stablecoins that takes effect in January 2027. The Treasury Department announced the release in a post on X on October 21, calling it a critical step toward implementing the 2025 law.
Treasury said the rule delivers a federal framework for payment stablecoins and further cements American dominance in digital assets.
The rule sets standards for stablecoin issuers, including reserve requirements and issuance parameters. President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act into law in 2025, and the framework is the first federal rulebook for payment stablecoins in the United States. Issuers have until January 2027 to bring their operations in line.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent put the law in historical company, saying it marks a watershed moment in American finance and further cements the United States as the crypto capital of the world. He compared it to Abraham Lincoln’s National Currency Act of 1863, which built the first national framework for bank-issued currency, and said the OCC’s rule provides a clear foundation for private-sector innovation in digital assets.
The announcement lands three days after the SEC comment deadline on GENIUS Act compliance rulemaking closed on October 18. The Blockchain Association called on October 20 for clearer rules on decentralized finance and foreign issuers, so parts of the framework remain contested even as the OCC rule is final.
For issuers already positioning around the law, the final rule hardens a timeline they have worked toward all year. Companies including Fidelity, Ethena and Franklin Templeton have launched or retooled dollar tokens under the GENIUS Act framework, and the compliance clock now runs to January 2027.
