The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued its final GENIUS Act rule on Oct. 21, 20261. That office, the OCC, is a bank regulator inside the Treasury Department2. Congress passed the GENIUS Act, a stablecoin law, in 2025.
In the final text, the OCC drops its proposed presumption that stablecoin rewards paid through a partner such as Coinbase break the law2. Banks objected to dropping it. Comptroller Jonathan Gould spoke of standards1. “We are providing a clear, practical framework for payment stablecoin innovation, with strong standards for reserve backing, redemption, and risk management,” he said.
Gould's own list skips the word that started the fight. He named reserves, redemption and risk management, leaving out rewards, the piece banks actually contest.
What the OCC Actually Changed
The GENIUS Act bans stablecoin issuers from paying interest. It says little about a third party, such as an exchange, paying a reward on top5. The OCC's proposed rule, issued Feb. 25, 2026, would have presumed those third-party rewards broke the law anyway9. Its final version deletes that presumption3.
Each arrangement now gets judged on its own facts3. The agency calls this a "facts and circumstances" standard. That standard asks one question: does the payment reward holding the stablecoin, or does it reward a separate transaction?
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent praised the rule in the OCC's own announcement1. “The OCC's final rule carries that landmark legislation forward, providing a clear, practical foundation for private-sector innovation, competition, and American leadership in digital assets,” Bessent said.
Reserves and redemptions changed too5. The proposed rule capped the average time until reserve assets mature at 20 days. That cap is gone, so issuers may hold longer-dated Treasuries. Issuers can now pull surplus reserves at any time, as long as every coin stays backed one-to-one.
An OCC official told reporters on Oct. 20, 2026, that rewards would be handled case by case2. “We will just let the market develop and address it as it comes,” the official said, in a quote Bitcoin Magazine credits to Crypto in America5. The official declined to say whether exchange rewards programs running today comply with the rule.
The rule reaches past rewards and reserves. It sets licensing standards for issuers, along with rules for capital, custody and audits5. The OCC has yet to say when it will start taking license applications1.
The OCC Issued Its Final Stablecoin Rule on Oct. 21, 2026, After a Feb. 25 Proposal
Three dates in the GENIUS Act rule's path, from proposal to its Jan. 18, 2027, start
Read the chart as a table
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Feb. 25, 2026 | OCC proposes the rule |
| Oct. 21, 2026 | OCC issues the final rule |
| Jan. 18, 2027 | Rule takes effect |
Banks Push Back
Rob Nichols, chief executive of the American Bankers Association, said the rule lets crypto platforms keep offering yield despite "Congress's clear intent to protect local lending"2. “Those gaps risk undermining the distinction Congress drew between payment stablecoins and traditional bank deposits, threatening the funds banks use to make the loans that drive the U.S. economy,” Nichols said. Nichols framed the risk around banks' own lending power, ahead of the stablecoin holders whose deposits might actually move.
His group wanted the OCC to keep its proposed safeguards against rewards paid through exchanges and other partners4. The OCC chose case-by-case review. Nichols added a second complaint: the agency's own caution. “And while we appreciate the OCC's recognition that additional supervisory experience may inform future action in this area, attempting to address deposit flight and economic harm after it has occurred is the wrong approach,” he said2.
Bank groups have also cited a U.S. Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee estimate that stablecoins could pull $6.6 trillion of deposits from banks3. That figure is a forecast of what could move.
The Bank Policy Institute, a second bank trade group, made the same complaint4. Dropping the presumption “replaces clarity with ambiguity and puts the banking system and its customers at risk of deposit flight,” the group said.
TD Cowen's Washington Research Group, led by managing director Jaret Seiberg, expects the courts to decide2. “Until the courts rule, there will be ambiguity on what is permitted and what is prohibited, which is a negative,” the group wrote in a note on Oct. 21, 2026.
One bank group had already sued the OCC in October 2026, over a different question. The Independent Community Bankers of America challenged the agency's national trust charters, American Banker reported3.
Why Crypto Platforms Fought for This
Lindsay Fraser, chief policy officer at the Blockchain Association, praised the final rule2. “The OCC has taken the framework Congress built and given issuers clear, workable standards for reserves, redemption, and risk management,” she said. Her group said dropping the presumption “brings the final rule more closely in line with the statutory text.” Fraser read the stakes differently from the banks. “That clarity will bring more innovation, more competition, and more dollar-backed payments onshore under strong federal oversight,” she said.
In a report published at 16:53 UTC on Oct. 21, 2026, 24/7 Wall St. put Circle's shares up 6% at $90.658. Circle is the company behind USDC, a dollar stablecoin. Coinbase was up 5% at $178.86 in the same report. Strategy, the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, was up 8% at $154.41. The iShares Bitcoin Trust, a fund built to follow bitcoin, was up 3%.
Coinbase made its case for stablecoin rewards in January 2026, nine months before the final rule6. Faryar Shirzad, the exchange's chief policy officer, pointed to outside research to answer the deposit-flight worry. “Independent research from Cornell confirms it: stablecoin adoption does not reduce bank lending,” Shirzad said.
He gave the claim a number6. “In fact, rewards would need to approach 6% to meaningfully affect deposits. No one is offering anything close to that,” he said. At the time, Coinbase paid 3.5% in USDC rewards to members of its Coinbase One subscription.
Coinbase Paid 3.5% on USDC in January 2026, Under the 6% It Says Moves Deposits
Coinbase One's USDC reward against the rate Coinbase says would move bank deposits, in percent
Source: Yahoo Finance [6].
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Coinbase One reward, Jan. 2026 | 3.5% |
| Rate Shirzad says moves deposits | 6% |
Shirzad also pointed to what banks earn6. By his account, banks earn around $360 billion a year from parking about $3 trillion at the Federal Reserve and from card swipe fees.
What Each Side Would Need to Be True
Banks need deposit flight to show up in the data, past theory alone. Nichols and the Bank Policy Institute describe a risk ahead of a measurement. Each skipped a dollar figure for deposits already lost to stablecoin rewards.
Crypto platforms need Shirzad's 6% line to hold as rewards programs grow. Coinbase One paid 3.5% in January 2026, under that line6. Under the final rule, the OCC will weigh each plan on its facts3.
Standard Chartered put stablecoin supply near $309 billion as of Oct. 14, 20267. Supply has held between $300 billion and $320 billion for 12 months. Monthly transfers averaged nearly $10 trillion so far in 2026, up from $4 trillion a month in 2025.
So the rule decides who may try. Partners such as Coinbase may keep paying rewards while the OCC judges each plan on its facts.
By the numbers
- 89 days separate the OCC's Oct. 21, 2026, rule from its Jan. 18, 2027, start date1.
- Standard Chartered counted about $309 billion in stablecoin supply as of Oct. 14, 20267.
- $360 billion a year is what banks earn from Federal Reserve deposits and card fees, Coinbase's Faryar Shirzad said in January 20266.
- 6% is the reward rate Shirzad says would be needed before stablecoin rewards meaningfully move bank deposits6.
- 3.5% was the USDC reward Coinbase paid Coinbase One members in January 20266.
- 20 days was the cap on reserves' average maturity in the OCC's Feb. 25, 2026, proposal, a cap the final rule removed59.
- Two bank trade groups, the American Bankers Association and the Bank Policy Institute, objected to the rule's rewards language on Oct. 21, 202624.
- Circle's shares were up 6% at $90.65, and Coinbase's up 5%, in 24/7 Wall St.'s report at 16:53 UTC on Oct. 21, 20268.
What to watch
Watch whether a bank trade group sues over the rewards change before the rule takes effect Jan. 18, 2027. TD Cowen's note expects the courts to settle what the rule permits2. The OCC will announce separately when license applications open1. A first rewards plan judged under the "facts and circumstances" test will show how strict that test is. Standard Chartered's next stablecoin supply reading will show whether rewards move the $309 billion total at all.
Sources
- Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, "OCC Advances U.S. Digital Asset Leadership with Final Rule to Implement GENIUS Act," Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Oct. 21, 2026, https://www.occ.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2026/nr-occ-2026-92.html
- Sarah Wynn, "American Bankers Association accuses OCC of undermining Congress with final stablecoin rewards rule," The Block, Oct. 21, 2026, https://www.theblock.co/news/regulation/2026-10-21-american-bankers-association-accuses-occ-undermining-congress-stablecoin-rewards-rule-421629
- Ebrima Santos Sanneh, "OCC leaves room for stablecoin yield maneuvers in final rule," American Banker, Oct. 21, 2026, https://www.americanbanker.com/news/occ-leaves-room-for-stablecoin-yield-maneuvers-in-final-rule
- Turner Wright, "Banking Groups Push Back on OCC's Finalized GENIUS Rules on Stablecoin Yield," Cointelegraph, Oct. 21, 2026, https://cointelegraph.com/news/american-bankers-association-occ-genius-rules-stablecoins
- Micah Zimmerman, "OCC Finalizes GENIUS Act Stablecoin Rules," Bitcoin Magazine, Oct. 21, 2026, https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/occ-finalizes-genius-act-stablecoin-rules
- Francisco Rodrigues, "Coinbase pushes back against banks to keep rewarding users for holding stablecoins," Yahoo Finance, Jan. 12, 2026, https://finance.yahoo.com/news/coinbase-pushes-back-against-banks-092734636.html
- Yogita Khatri, "Standard Chartered pushes $2 trillion stablecoin market forecast to 2030 as supply growth stalls," The Block, Oct. 14, 2026, https://www.theblock.co/news/web3/2026-10-14-standard-chartered-stablecoin-market-report-418578
- David Moadel, "Circle Internet Jumps 6% as OCC Finalizes GENIUS Act Stablecoin Rules; Strategy Surges 8%, Coinbase Climbs 5%," 247wallst.com, Oct. 21, 2026, https://247wallst.com/investing/2026/10/21/circle-internet-jumps-6-as-occ-finalizes-genius-act-stablecoin-rules-strategy-surges-8-coinbase-climbs-5/
- Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, "OCC Proposes Regulations to Implement GENIUS Act," Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, March 11, 2026, https://www.sullcrom.com/insights/memo/2026/March/OCC-Proposes-Regulations-Implement-GENIUS-Act