US Banks Push for Delay in Implementing Stablecoin Regulatory Framework

The US banking sector is actively involved in shaping the regulatory landscape for cryptocurrencies, with a coalition of bank trade associations recently petitioning the US Department of the Treasury to 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 Corp, the bankers are requesting a 60-day extension for commenting on three GENIUS Act rule proposals, following the completion 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 regulations 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. The bankers argue that all these efforts are directly contingent on the OCC's final framework and represent a complex and extensive body of regulatory work. The American Bankers Association and the Bank Policy Institute are among the organizations seeking more time to evaluate the proposed rules and provide comprehensive comments. The GENIUS Act is slated for implementation by 2027, although extensions for comment periods on complex rules are not uncommon. The Treasury Department has not yet responded to the request, while the same bankers are also engaged in a debate with the crypto industry over the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which has been delayed for months and may not become law this year.