The GENIUS Act is the first US federal law for stablecoins. Here is what it requires, the exact effective-date formula, what the OCC’s October 2026 final rule decided on yield, which rules are still proposals, and where the separate CLARITY Act stands.
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It turns dollar stablecoins into a licensed product with bank-style reserve rules. Only a permitted payment stablecoin issuer may issue one in the United States, and every coin must be backed at least 1:1 by a short list of cash-like assets. The law also says what a payment stablecoin is not: not a security, not a commodity, and not insured by the FDIC (P.L. 119‑27).
Scope: this page summarizes the statute and the implementing rules as of October 26, 2026 for investors and savers. It is not legal advice and does not cover tax, anti-money-laundering detail or tokenized stocks (see tokenized stocks explained). For what this means for the coins you might hold, see are stablecoins safe?
| Rule | What the law says | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Who may issue | Only permitted issuers: bank subsidiaries, federal qualified nonbank issuers, state qualified issuers | 3(a) |
| Reserves | At least 1:1 in coins and currency, Fed balances, demand deposits, Treasuries with 93 days or less, overnight repo, government money funds | 4(a)(1)(A) |
| Reuse of reserves | May not be pledged or reused, except narrow cases such as repo to meet redemptions | 4(a)(2) |
| Disclosure | Monthly reserve composition on the issuer’s website; redemption policy and all fees in plain language; 7 days’ notice of fee changes | 4(a)(1)(B)–(C) |
| Verification | Monthly report examined by a registered public accounting firm; CEO and CFO certify it, with criminal penalties for false certification | 4(a)(3) |
| Audit | Issuers above $50 billion that do not file with the SEC publish audited annual statements | 4(a)(10) |
| Interest | No interest or yield to holders solely for holding, using or retaining the coin | 4(a)(11) |
| Non-financial public companies | A public company not mainly in financial services needs a unanimous vote of the Stablecoin Certification Review Committee | 4(a)(12) |
| State option | State qualified issuers with up to $10 billion outstanding may stay under a substantially similar state regime | 4(c) |
| Insurance | Not backed by the US government, not FDIC insured; unlawful to claim otherwise | 4(e) |
| Failure | Holders have priority over other creditors on required reserves | 11 |
| Offshore coins | From July 18, 2028, US platforms may not offer coins of non-permitted issuers, subject to exceptions for comparable foreign regimes | 3(b), 18 |
On January 18, 2027. Section 20 sets the date as the earlier of two triggers: 18 months after enactment, or 120 days after the primary federal stablecoin regulators issue final regulations. The OCC confirms January 18, 2027 for both the Act and its own rule (OCC Bulletin 2026-50). Worked example:
| Trigger | Arithmetic | Date |
|---|---|---|
| A: 18 months after enactment | July 18, 2025 + 18 months | January 18, 2027 |
| B: 120 days after final regulations | OCC final rule October 21, 2026 + 120 days (10 + 30 + 31 + 31 + 18) | February 18, 2027 |
| Effective date = earlier of A and B | January 18, 2027 is before February 18, 2027 | January 18, 2027 |
The law also told regulators to finish their rules within one year, by July 18, 2026 (sec. 13). That deadline passed with proposals only; the OCC’s rule was the first prudential final rule. Dated milestones, from the Federal Register and the agencies:
| Date | Step | Status on Oct 26, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 18, 2025 | GENIUS Act signed (P.L. 119-27) | Law |
| Mar 2, 2026 | OCC proposed rule (91 FR 10202) | Replaced by final rule |
| Apr 10, 2026 | FDIC proposed standards; FinCEN and OFAC proposed AML and sanctions rules | Proposals |
| May 18, 2026 | NCUA proposed rule for credit-union issuers | Proposal |
| Jul 18, 2026 | Statutory deadline for final rules (sec. 13) | Missed |
| Aug 18, 2026 | Treasury proposal on issuance, offer and sale | Comments closed Oct 19, 2026 |
| Sep 29, 2026 | Federal Reserve proposed rule | Comments open to Nov 30, 2026 |
| Oct 21, 2026 | OCC final rule (published Oct 23, 91 FR 67000) | Final; effective Jan 18, 2027 |
| Jan 18, 2027 | Act and OCC rule take effect | Scheduled |
| Jul 18, 2028 | US platforms may offer only coins of permitted (or qualifying foreign) issuers | Scheduled |
It depends on the issuer’s charter and size. A bank’s stablecoin subsidiary answers to that bank’s federal regulator; a nonbank federal issuer is licensed by the OCC; a smaller state issuer can stay with its state; and foreign issuers face OCC oversight plus a Treasury finding that their home regime is comparable.
Issuers cannot; whether partners can is now a case-by-case question. Section 4(a)(11) bars permitted and foreign issuers from paying “any form of interest or yield (whether in cash, tokens, or other consideration) solely in connection with the holding, use, or retention” of the coin. The OCC’s March proposal would have presumed that certain payments through affiliates and related third parties broke that ban. The final rule removed the presumption because, in the OCC’s words, payment stablecoins are “a nascent market” (91 FR 67000).
What the OCC said instead, from the same rule:
For a holder, the practical reading is that an exchange “reward” on a stablecoin balance is not prohibited outright, but it is the platform’s promise, not the issuer’s, and supervisors can still challenge it. Bank groups and crypto firms disagree about whether this leaves too much room; the rule, not either side’s view, is what applies. A balance that needs to earn interest belongs in an account built for that, such as a government money fund (see tokenized Treasury funds).
It loosened several proposed mechanics while keeping the core: full reserves and fast redemption. Proposal vs final, from the Federal Register text:
| Item | March 2026 proposal | October 2026 final rule |
|---|---|---|
| Yield through affiliates or partners | Rebuttable presumption of a violation | Presumption removed; facts and circumstances |
| Same-day liquidity | Both proposed options: 10% of reserves in demand deposits or Fed balances | At least 5% in demand deposits, on-demand share accounts or Fed balances (sec. 15.11(c)(2)(i)) |
| Redemption deadline | Timely redemption, with an automatic seven-day extension under stress | No more than two business days; above 10% of a coin’s issuance in 24 hours, notify the OCC and ask for an extension (sec. 15.12) |
| Capital | $5 million floor for new issuers during the first three years | $5 million floor kept, including after the first three years |
| Operational backstop | Proposed, calculated differently | Assets equal to 12 months of total expenses |
| Anti-money-laundering | Separate | Separate OCC rulemaking on AML and sanctions compliance (proposed June 24, 2026); FinCEN and OFAC published their own proposal on April 10, 2026 |
The OCC has not yet opened applications; it said it will announce that in a separate release (OCC News Release 2026-92). The rule covers OCC-supervised issuers only. Issuers under the Fed, FDIC or NCUA wait for those agencies’ final rules.
No. The CLARITY Act (H.R. 3633) is a separate bill on the structure of crypto markets, mainly how oversight of digital assets would be split between the SEC and the CFTC. GENIUS covers payment stablecoins only. The official bill record shows: House passage 294–134 on July 17, 2025; a Senate Banking Committee substitute reported June 1, 2026; and on September 15, 2026 the Senate did not invoke cloture on the motion to proceed, 49–50 (Record Vote 234), with a motion to reconsider entered (govinfo bill status). No later action was listed when this page was checked on October 26, 2026. Until both chambers pass the same text and it is signed, none of its provisions apply.
Plenty. Counterexample: an investor holds USDT on an offshore exchange in 2027. The issuer is not a US-permitted issuer, so the reserve, audit and insolvency-priority rules do not apply to it, and the platform rules for offshore coins only start on July 18, 2028. If the exchange fails, the investor is a creditor of the exchange. The comparison of the two largest coins is in USDC vs USDT.
For how stablecoins fit next to tokenized funds and stocks, see tokenization explained.
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January 18, 2027. Section 20 picks the earlier of 18 months after the July 18, 2025 signing or 120 days after final regulations; the OCC’s Oct 21, 2026 final rule plus 120 days is Feb 18, 2027, so the 18-month date applies.
The US law for dollar stablecoins. Only permitted issuers may issue them, each coin needs $1 of cash or short Treasuries behind it, reserves are reported monthly and checked by an accounting firm, issuers cannot pay interest, and holders are first in line if an issuer fails.
It bans issuers from paying interest or yield solely for holding the coin. The OCC’s final rule dropped a proposed presumption against yield paid through affiliates or partners and will judge those arrangements case by case.
GENIUS is law and covers payment stablecoins. CLARITY is a broader crypto market-structure bill that passed the House in July 2025 but failed a Senate cloture vote 49–50 on Sep 15, 2026; it is not law.
No. The Senate did not invoke cloture on the motion to proceed on Sep 15, 2026 (49–50, Record Vote 234). A motion to reconsider was entered, and no later action was recorded as of Oct 26, 2026.
No. The Act states that payment stablecoins are not subject to FDIC deposit insurance and makes it unlawful to market them as insured. Holders get priority on reserves if a permitted issuer fails instead.
US coins and currency, Fed balances, demand deposits at insured banks, Treasury bills, notes or bonds with 93 days or less to maturity, overnight repo backed by such bills, government money market funds, and similar assets the regulator approves, including tokenized forms.
Announced Oct 21, 2026 and effective Jan 18, 2027, it requires redemption within two business days, at least 5% of reserves in demand deposits or Fed balances, a $5 million capital floor and a 12-month expense backstop, and it removed the proposed yield presumption.
Holding it is not banned by the Act. From Jul 18, 2028, US platforms may not offer coins of issuers that are not permitted, unless a foreign issuer meets the Act’s comparability conditions. Tether is not a US-permitted issuer as of Oct 26, 2026.
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