GENIUS Act final rule: stablecoin issuer licence in the USA from 18 January 2027 and where the MTL stays

7 November 2026 · News · USA

On 21 October 2026 the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued its final rule implementing the GENIUS Act. The rule and the Act take effect on 18 January 2027. From that date only a permitted payment stablecoin issuer may issue a payment stablecoin in the United States. The OCC will accept applications once the Office of Management and Budget approves the forms; an issuer that already operates in the US and has a substantially complete application pending on 18 January 2027 may ask for a waiver of up to 12 months. On the state side, the Treasury’s interim final rule of 30 September 2026 sets the certification procedure for state regimes; comments close on 30 November 2026.

What the OCC published on 21 October 2026

The final rule puts most of the requirements into a new part 15 of title 12 of the Code of Federal Regulations: permitted activities, reserve assets, redemption, risk management, audits and reports, the transition of state qualified issuers, custody, applications and registrations, examination of foreign issuers, revocation of approval, and capital and the operational backstop. It also amends the capital, prompt corrective action, fee assessment and procedure rules. Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money-laundering and OFAC sanctions requirements are left to a separate rulemaking coordinated with the Treasury Department. Sources: OCC news release 2026-92; OCC Bulletin 2026-50.

Three routes to issue a payment stablecoin

The Act divides issuers by charter and by size. The $10 billion line comes from section 4(c) of the GENIUS Act (Public Law 119-27).

The Treasury’s interim final rule of 30 September 2026 (91 FR 61688) sets the forms and procedure for state certifications, including an opportunity to cure and an appeal, and promises an expedited review for states that had a digital asset or stablecoin prudential regime in place on or before 14 January 2026. Comments are open until 30 November 2026: Federal Register, docket TREAS-DO-2026-0562.

Key requirements in the final rule

• Reserves. Identifiable, segregated from the issuer’s other assets, with a reserve asset value that equals or exceeds outstanding issuance at all times, held directly or at an eligible financial institution; the issuer must show it can monetise reserves in adverse conditions and may keep a buffer above outstanding issuance (§15.11).
• Redemption. A public redemption policy with the timeframe in which the issuer redeems (§15.12).
• Capital. Minimum capital equal to the greater of the licensing condition or $5 million for a de novo issuer, held for 36 months; a floor of $5 million applies on an ongoing basis (§15.41(a)).
• Operational backstop. Assets equal to 12 months of total expenses (§15.41(b)).

Source: OCC final rule text (PDF), regulatory text of 12 CFR part 15.

Application timeline and waivers

Within 30 days of receipt the OCC tells the applicant whether the application is substantially complete; an application that stays incomplete 60 days after that notice is returned without decision. A substantially complete application is deemed approved on the 120th day unless the OCC denies it earlier (§15.30(b)). The form asks for the business plan, management, reserve assets, issuance and redemption processes, risk management, capital and liquidity, BSA/AML/OFAC, third-party risk, enterprise and compliance risk management and audit (OCC Bulletin 2026-51).

The same bulletin explains the waivers. An issuer with a substantially complete application pending with the OCC on or before 18 January 2027 may request a waiver of the prior-approval requirement and of other provisions it cannot meet by that date. The OCC generally expects to grant such waivers to issuers already operating in the US, for up to 12 months from 18 January 2027, and sees no general reason to grant them to prospective issuers that have yet to start operations.

Where the money transmitter licence still applies

The GENIUS Act and the OCC rule regulate issuance. In the preamble the OCC writes that money transmission “is a broad term even if limited to payment stablecoins” and, without further detail, declines to confirm that money transmission is a permissible issuer activity beyond the list in §15.10; a digital wallet, it adds, may be permissible but can make the issuer a custodian. The Act gives one narrow passport: a state-chartered bank with a permitted issuer subsidiary may engage in money transmission through that subsidiary in any state, subject to the home-state conditions in section 16(d). For an exchange, a wallet or a payment company that moves customer funds and does not issue, our reading is that the state regime stays: FinCEN registration as an MSB and a MTL licence for a crypto business in the USA in each state where customers are served. A New York operator adds the BitLicense.

A model that both issues a stablecoin and runs a platform needs two files: the OCC or state issuer approval for the token, and the MTL stack for the transmission. For EU clients the MiCA CASP licence covers the EEA and stops at its border; the US side is separate.

What to do before 18 January 2027

1. Decide whether the token is a payment stablecoin under the Act and whether you issue it or only distribute it.
2. Pick the route: bank subsidiary, federal qualified issuer, or a state regime under $10 billion, and check whether that state will file a certification.
3. Build the pack to the OCC form: reserves, redemption policy, $5 million capital, 12-month expense backstop, BSA/AML programme.
4. If you already issue in the US, prepare the waiver request for the day the OCC opens the gateway.
5. Map transmission activities separately and keep the state MTL files current.

In our experience a federal issuer file takes several months to assemble before the 120-day clock starts; the exact time depends on the reserve custody set-up and on how fast senior managers and audit functions are in place.