US bank regulator finalises stablecoin issuer rules under the GENIUS Act, effective 18 January 2027

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued its final rule implementing the GENIUS Act on 21 October 2026. The rule turns the 2025 federal stablecoin law into a supervisory regime for payment stablecoin issuers under OCC jurisdiction, and both the rule and the Act take effect on 18 January 2027. The rule sets standards for reserve assets, redemption, custody, risk management, audits and reporting. It covers subsidiaries of national banks and federal savings associations, non-bank firms seeking federal approval to issue, certain state-qualified issuers and foreign issuers, as well as some custody activity by OCC-supervised entities. Anti-money-laundering, Bank Secrecy Act and sanctions requirements are not included; the OCC says these will come in a separate rule written with the Treasury. The agency has not yet said when it will start accepting applications. For merchants, this is the piece of plumbing that decides which dollar stablecoins will count as regulated payment instruments in the US from early 2027. Card networks, processors and checkout providers that already let merchants accept or settle in stablecoins will have to show that the tokens they handle come from approved issuers. That should make stablecoin settlement easier to justify to finance and compliance teams, but it may also narrow the list of tokens that providers support. The gap on AML and sanctions rules matters too. Until that second rule lands, providers may keep tighter screening and limits on stablecoin flows, which can affect payout speed and which customers can pay this way.