Regulated Stablecoins

Stablecoin Rewards: Where U.S. Crypto Regulation Stands (March 2026)   The GENIUS Act prohibited stablecoin issuers from paying yield to holders, but left third-party platforms in a legal grey zone. A Senate compromise reached this week may resolve the ambiguity, with significant implications for the industry and the banking sector. $316B Global stablecoin market, March 2026 $6.6T Potential deposit flight estimate (TBAC/Treasury) ~20% Coinbase Q3 2025 revenue from stablecoins Context What the GENIUS Act did - and did not - resolve Signed into law on July 18, 2025, the GENIUS Act established the first comprehensive federal framework for stablecoin regulation in the United States. Passed 68-30 in the Senate and 308-122 in the House, it introduced a clear prohibition: permitted payment stablecoin issuers (PPSIs) may not pay interest or yield to stablecoin holders. The law's scope, however, was limited to issuers. It did not address whether exchanges, brokers, or affilia...

Consortium Stablecoin Issuers: How U.S. Regulators Are Enabling Joint Bank Models As the U.S. regulatory framework for payment stablecoins continues to take shape, one important structural model is emerging: the bank consortium . Rather than launching a stablecoin independently, multiple financial institutions may form a joint vehicle to share the high costs of technology, reserve management, and compliance infrastructure. Recent proposals from the FDIC , NCUA , and OCC indicate that regulators are actively contemplating these consortium structures as a viable pathway for stablecoin issuance under the GENIUS Act of 2025 . The FDIC’s Streamlined Consortium Application Under the FDIC’s proposed 12 CFR Part 303 , banks participating in a stablecoin consortium may submit a single letter application on behalf of all participating FDIC-supervised institutions rather than filing separate submissions for each bank. To qualify for this streamlined filing, the application mu...

OCC Proposed Rules Under the GENIUS Act On March 2, 2026, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued proposed rules under the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (the GENIUS Act ). The proposal is intended to establish a more comprehensive federal framework for the issuance of payment stablecoins and related digital asset activities. Scope and Structure of the Proposed Framework The OCC proposal applies to a defined set of entities under its jurisdiction and is designed to establish a more unified federal framework for stablecoin issuance and related activities. Covered Entities: The proposal applies to national banks and federal savings associations (and their subsidiaries), federal branches of foreign banks , nonbank federal qualified payment stablecoin issuers (FQPSIs) , and certain state-qualified issuers that exceed the $10 billion issuance threshold or present ...

FDIC vs. NCUA Payment Stablecoin Frameworks The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (the GENIUS Act ), enacted on July 18, 2025 , created the first federal framework for “payment stablecoins” . While the Act is now law, its full implementation still depends on final agency rulemaking. As of March 2026 , the FDIC and NCUA have issued diverging proposals on how financial institutions would apply to issue these assets. Comparative Analysis of Proposed Issuer Requirements Feature FDIC Proposal (Banks ) NCUA Proposal (Credit Unions) Primary Applicant The Parent IDI (Bank) Joint filing by Subsidiary and Parent(s) Application Format Narrative letter application Structured Manual with specific forms ...

Last updated: March 1, 2026 Stablecoins: Benefits, Risks, and New U.S. Regulations Stablecoins are blockchain-based digital assets designed to maintain a relatively stable value, most commonly by referencing a fiat currency such as the U.S. dollar. In today’s market, stablecoins are widely used as settlement instruments in crypto markets and are increasingly discussed as a potential payment rail for faster, always-on transfers and tokenized-asset settlement. In the United States, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (the “ GENIUS Act ”), enacted on July 18, 2025, establishes the first comprehensive federal framework for a defined subset of stablecoins: “payment stablecoins.” Importantly, most of the framework is enacted but not yet legally effective as of March 1, 2026, because final implementing rules are still being developed by federal regulators. GENIUS Act Implementation Timeline Updated: March 1, 2026 ...