U.S. Federal Reserve moves on proposals to implement GENIUS Act for stablecoins
The Fed proposed rules on putting last year's GENIUS Act into place with regulations, including those governing stablecoin yield programs.
The U.S. Federal Reserve proposed two rules on Thursday that would accomplish its part of the multi-agency work needed to establish stablecoin issuer oversight under the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act.
These proposals, which are now open for 60-day public comment periods, would establish the legal safety net behind the tokens being issued and would set up the procedures for Fed-regulated banks to issue stablecoins. Last year's GENIUS Act required the U.S. banking regulators and Treasury Department to put regulations in place by July of 2026, meaning the agencies are all well past the legal deadline, though they've made significant progress in recent months.
The Fed's regulatory approach also echoes the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's own proposal where it addressed the law's ban on issuers paying interest or yield for holding stablecoins.
Proposed rules like those offered by the Fed on Thursday need to gather input from the public before the federal regulator can revise them and publish them in final form — a process that usually takes several months, sometimes much longer.