United States: crypto and stablecoin regulation (as of 1 November 2026)

As of 2026-11-01

The United States regulates payment stablecoins under the GENIUS Act (Public Law 119-27), approved on 18 July 2025. The OCC says it takes effect on 18 January 2027, which the Treasury calls the expected effective date. Under the Act only a permitted payment stablecoin issuer may issue a payment stablecoin in the United States; the OCC adopted its final implementing rule on 21 October 2026, while the Treasury and FDIC rules are still proposals. This page found no federal register of permitted payment stablecoin issuers.

This page states what the official sources say. It is not legal advice.

Status as of 1 November 2026

Key rules

• Who may issue. It is unlawful for any person other than a permitted payment stablecoin issuer to issue a payment stablecoin in the United States (section 3(a)). (govinfo)
• Licence types. A permitted payment stablecoin issuer is a person formed in the United States that is (A) a subsidiary of an insured depository institution approved to issue payment stablecoins under section 5, (B) a Federal qualified payment stablecoin issuer, or (C) a State qualified payment stablecoin issuer (section 2(23)). (govinfo)
• Reserves. Issuers must maintain identifiable reserves backing outstanding payment stablecoins on an at least 1 to 1 basis (section 4(a)(1)(A)). Permitted reserves include US coins and currency, Federal Reserve balances, demand deposits, Treasury bills, notes or bonds with a maturity of 93 days or less, certain overnight repurchase and reverse repurchase agreements, registered government money market funds, any other similarly liquid Federal Government-issued asset approved by the primary Federal payment stablecoin regulator (clause (vii)), and reserves described in clauses (i) to (iii) or (vi) to (vii) in tokenized form (clause (viii)). (govinfo)
• Reserve disclosure. Issuers must publish the monthly composition of their reserves on their website, including the total number of outstanding payment stablecoins and the amount and composition of reserves (section 4(a)(1)(C)). (govinfo)
• No reuse of reserves. Required reserves may not be pledged, rehypothecated or reused, directly or indirectly, except for the purposes the Act lists (section 4(a)(2)). (govinfo)
• Redemption. Issuers must publicly disclose a redemption policy that establishes clear and conspicuous procedures for timely redemption (section 4(a)(1)(B)(i)), and disclose all purchase and redemption fees, which may change only on at least 7 days' prior notice (section 4(a)(1)(B)(ii)). (govinfo)
• No interest from issuers. No permitted or foreign payment stablecoin issuer may pay the holder any form of interest or yield (in cash, tokens or other consideration) solely in connection with the holding, use or retention of the payment stablecoin (section 4(a)(11)). (govinfo)
• Foreign-issued stablecoins. From 18 January 2027, digital asset service providers generally may not offer, sell or otherwise make available foreign-issued payment stablecoins unless the foreign issuer can and will comply with any lawful order and any reciprocal arrangement between the United States and its home jurisdiction (section 3(b)(2), per the Treasury). (Treasury)
• Section 18 exception. The section 3 prohibitions do not apply to a foreign issuer that meets all section 18(a) conditions, including a home regime the Treasury determines to be comparable, registration with the Comptroller, reserves in a US financial institution sufficient for US customers' liquidity demands (unless a reciprocal arrangement permits otherwise), and a home country that is not subject to comprehensive US sanctions or designated a primary money laundering concern. (govinfo)
• Stablecoins not from a permitted issuer may not be treated as cash or a cash equivalent for accounting purposes, may not be eligible cash or cash-equivalent margin and collateral for the listed intermediaries, and may not be an acceptable settlement asset for wholesale payments between banking organizations (section 3(g)). (govinfo)
• Penalty for unlicensed issuance. Whoever knowingly participates in a violation of section 3(a) can be fined up to $1,000,000 for each violation, imprisoned for up to 5 years, or both (section 3(f)(1)). (govinfo)
• Marketing. It is unlawful to market a product in the United States as a payment stablecoin unless it is issued under the Act (section 4(e)(3)(A)); knowing and willful violations carry a Treasury fine of up to $500,000 for each violation (section 4(e)(3)(B)). It is also unlawful to represent that payment stablecoins are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, guaranteed by the US Government, or covered by federal deposit or share insurance (section 4(e)(2)(A)). (govinfo)
• Exempt transactions. Section 3 does not apply to direct transfers between 2 individuals acting on their own behalf without an intermediary, certain transfers between an individual's own accounts, or transactions through a self-custody software or hardware wallet (section 3(h)(1)). (govinfo)

Timeline

Not covered here

New York (NYDFS) and other state regimes were not checked. The final Treasury section 3 rule, the final FDIC rules, the separate Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money laundering and OFAC rulemaking, the Treasury's section 18 comparability determinations for foreign regimes, and the date the OCC starts accepting issuer applications are not stated in the federal sources this page uses.

Sources

• https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-119publ27/html/PLAW-119publ27.htm
• https://www.occ.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2026/nr-occ-2026-92.html
• https://www.occ.gov/news-issuances/bulletins/2026/bulletin-2026-50.html
• https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0605
• https://www.fdic.gov/news/press-releases/2026/fdic-approves-proposal-implement-genius-act-requirements-and-standards

Updated: 2026-11-01 · Markdown version