Major US banking trade groups have formally requested the Treasury Department and the FDIC to pause comment periods on three GENIUS Act implementation rules until the OCC finalizes its primary stablecoin framework. The American Bankers Association and the Bank Policy Institute, along with two other trade bodies, sent letters on April 22 arguing that the Treasury's equivalency rule, the FDIC's issuer standards rule, and the FinCEN-OFAC anti-money-laundering directive are all 'substantively tethered' to the OCC's pending framework and cannot be meaningfully assessed until the OCC publishes its final rule.
In response, stablecoin startup Agora filed for a national trust bank charter with the OCC on April 24, aiming to establish a federal presence before the rules solidify. Agora CEO Nick van Eck said the banks' pushback came as 'not much of a surprise,' noting that the GENIUS Act represents 'one of the most significant pieces of banking legislation in our generation.' He stated that banks' deeper concern is deposit flight to stablecoin platforms that offer higher yields, eroding the spread between near-zero deposit rates and returns banks earn at the Federal Reserve.
Van Eck said Agora's charter, if approved by year-end, would allow the company to issue stablecoins directly under federal oversight and eliminate what he called 'egregious fees' in fiat-to-crypto on/off ramps. The OCC released its proposed stablecoin rulebook in February 2026, covering issuance, reserves, supervision, and redemption requirements for permitted payment stablecoin issuers, with a 60-day comment window that closed May 1. The Treasury separately proposed rules for state-level oversight of issuers under $10 billion, with a June 2 comment deadline.
Meanwhile, Anchorage Digital Bank submitted a comment letter to the OCC as it prepares to support Western Union's planned USDPT stablecoin on Solana, expected for a May launch focused on settlement in selected corridors. The GENIUS Act, signed into law in July 2025, is set to take effect by January 18, 2027.
