The US Treasury Department published its first notice of proposed rulemaking under the GENIUS Act on April 3, 2026. The proposed rule establishes broad-based principles for determining whether a state-level regulatory regime is substantially similar to the federal framework. Payment stablecoin issuers with consolidated outstanding issuance of $10 billion or less may opt for state-level supervision if their home state meets this standard. The 60-day public comment period runs until June 2, 2026.
The proposed rule defines the federal regulatory framework as the statutory text of the Act and implementing regulations published in the Federal Register. Informal agency guidance not published in the Federal Register falls outside this definition. The term state-level regulatory regime is defined broadly to include legislation, regulation, and enforceable guidance, giving states discretion in regime design. States receive wide latitude on capital standards. They must align with federal requirements on reserves, anti-money laundering, and sanctions compliance. Treasury received 333 public submissions during its September 2025 advance notice of proposed rulemaking.
The Treasury rulemaking joins two other implementation tracks already under way. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency published a 376-page proposed rule on February 25, covering reserve requirements, capital minimums, and redemption procedures for federally supervised stablecoin issuers. The OCC proposal mandates dollar-for-dollar reserve backing in eligible assets including US government securities that settle through Fedwire Securities and cash at Federal Reserve member banks. A two-business-day redemption ceiling applies to all redemption requests. Paying yield or interest to stablecoin holders is prohibited under the proposed rule. The OCC comment period closes on May 1, 2026. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation extended its comment period on stablecoin subsidiary application procedures under Part 303 to May 18, 2026.
The GENIUS Act takes effect on the earlier of January 18, 2027, or 120 days after final regulations are issued. State-licensed issuers with more than $10 billion in outstanding stablecoins must transition to federal supervision within 360 days of final rule effectiveness. The clustering of three agency comment deadlines between May 1 and June 2 leaves regulators a compressed window to finalize rules before the statutory ceiling.