New U.S. Stablecoin Rules Under the GENIUS Act: What Banks Need to Know

The regulatory landscape for banking institutions engaging with digital asset activities has shifted decisively in favor of greater permissiveness and innovation. Recent actions by key banking agencies—the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Federal Reserve—have rolled back many requirements that had previously inhibited banks from participating in cryptocurrency-related services. This transition is reinforced by the statutory framework provided by the GENIUS Act and ongoing rulemaking processes.

Regulatory rollback and codification: The OCC rescinded Interpretive Letter 1179 in March 2025 via Interpretive Letter 1183, eliminating the requirement for supervisory non-objection before engaging in activities such as crypto custody, stablecoin reserves, and participation in distributed ledger networks. Similarly, in the same period, the FDIC removed prior notification requirements in Financial Institutions Letter (FIL) 7-2025, replacing a more restrictive 2022 framework (FIL-16-2022). The Federal Reserve followed by rescinding supervisory letters that had required advance notice or nonobjection for crypto-based or dollar-token activities by state member banks, aligning with the agencies’ collective shift toward a “risk-based and flexible” oversight framework.

Charters and institutional entry: A signal moment came in December 2025 when the OCC conditionally approved five national trust bank charters sets—two de novo and three conversions from state trust companies—targeting digital asset businesses. These institutions proposed to offer digital asset custody, stablecoin issuance, staking, trade execution, fiduciary services, payment agent roles, and reserve asset custody for stablecoin issuers. These charters are governed by minimum Tier 1 capital ranging approximately from $6 million to $25 million, reflecting both the anticipated risk and scale of operations.

GENIUS Act and stablecoin framework: The GENIUS Act, passed in mid-2025, formalized expectations for payment stablecoin regulation across the U.S. financial system. Treasury has published an ANPRM (Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking) to gather public input on implementation issues including AML/sanctions, foreign stablecoin issuers, state vs federal oversight, definitions and safe harbors, taxation, and economic data. FDIC proposed regulation for insured depository institutions’ subsidiaries to issue payment stablecoins under the GENIUS Act.

Strategic implications: For incumbent banks and fintech firms, this opens opportunities to expand into digital asset custody, stablecoin services, and blockchain-based payment infrastructure with fewer prior regulatory impediments. Those considering entering the U.S. market or converting existing entities into national trust banks will now find a clearer path forward. Simultaneously, the regulatory easing increases competition among traditional banks, trust companies, and innovators. However, this also raises important risk oversight challenges: how to ensure safety and soundness, manage liquidity, cyber and operations risk, avoid state-law cliffs, and maintain consistent supervision across charter types.

Open Risks and Questions: Key uncertainties include how aggressive rulemaking under the GENIUS Act will define permissible activities; how the Federal Reserve will structure eligibility, operational constraints, and access rights for “payment accounts” (so-called “skinny master accounts”); how state-chartered banks plus non-bank fintechs will be treated in comparison to national banks; whether regulators will ensure consumer protection and anti-money laundering standards keep pace; and how potential conflicts between federal preemption and state licensing regimes will be resolved.