The cryptocurrency sector often finds itself at odds with bankers over regulatory matters, and now a coalition of bank trade associations is urging the US Department of the Treasury to extend the public consultation period for the implementation of 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, US bankers are requesting that the comment periods for three separate GENIUS Act rule proposals be extended to at least 60 days after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) completes its rulemaking process. The OCC's efforts to implement its rule for overseeing stablecoin issuers have significant implications for 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 'directly contingent on the OCC's final framework.' The collective regulatory efforts, including proposals that have not yet emerged from the Federal Reserve and other agencies, represent a 'body of regulatory work of extraordinary scope and complexity.' The banking organizations, including the American Bankers Association and the Bank Policy Institute, argue that their comments 'will necessarily be more comprehensive, and therefore more useful to the agencies, if we have sufficient time to evaluate the proposed rules together and to evaluate each against the finalized OCC framework.' The GENIUS Act is slated to come into effect by 2027, although it is not uncommon for federal agencies to grant extensions for comment periods on complex rules. The Treasury Department has not immediately responded to a request for comment on the bank industry's request. The same bankers are also engaged in a stablecoin-related debate with the crypto industry, which has so far managed to delay the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act for months and potentially jeopardize its chances of becoming law this year.