OCC Rules for Stablecoin

Stablecoins have officially moved from the crypto frontier into the regulated banking system. With the GENIUS Act, Congress created the first comprehensive federal framework for payment stablecoins, and the OCC's rules spell out exactly how that framework works: who may issue payment stablecoins, how every coin must be backed dollar-for-dollar with high-quality liquid reserves, and how issuers will be licensed, examined, and supervised. Whether your institution plans to issue a stablecoin, custody reserves, partner with an issuer, or simply needs to understand how these new instruments will move money, these rules will shape the payments landscape for years to come.

This session will break the OCC's stablecoin rules down into plain English. We'll walk through the application and approval process for banks and nonbank issuers, the 1:1 reserve backing requirements and which assets qualify, the capital and liquidity standards, permissible and prohibited activities – including the ban on paying yield to holders – custody expectations, and the supervision, examination, and reporting regime the OCC will apply. We'll also cover the companion BSA/AML and OFAC sanctions compliance expectations for stablecoin issuers, what surprised the industry most, and the practical questions every institution should be asking now: Should we issue? Should we partner? And what does this mean for the future of payments?