The cryptocurrency sector is once again seeing bankers at the forefront of key regulatory efforts, with a coalition of bank trade associations now requesting that the US Department of the Treasury extend the public consultation period for the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act. In a letter addressed to the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation this week, US bankers are seeking extended comment periods for three GENIUS Act rule proposals, pushing for at least 60 days after the conclusion of another rulemaking effort by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The OCC's stablecoin issuer policing rule is crucial to the outcome of other rules being developed by the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), as well as a related rulemaking at the FDIC. According to the bankers, all these efforts are contingent on the OCC's final framework, and collectively represent a regulatory undertaking of unprecedented scope and complexity.
The banking organizations, including the American Bankers Association and the Bank Policy Institute, argue that having sufficient time to evaluate the proposed rules against the finalized OCC framework will allow for more comprehensive and useful feedback. The GENIUS Act, aimed to be in place by 2027, may see extensions in comment periods due to the complexity of the rules. Meanwhile, the same bankers are engaged in a stablecoin-related debate with the crypto industry, which has already delayed the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act for months and potentially jeopardizes its chances of becoming law this year.