US Banks Push for Delay in Implementing Stablecoin Regulation Under GENIUS Act

The cryptocurrency sector often finds itself intertwined with banking interests in high-priority regulatory endeavors. Recently, a coalition of bank trade associations has petitioned the US Department of the Treasury to extend the public commentary period for the implementation of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, enacted last year. In a letter addressed to the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, US bankers are requesting extended comment periods for three GENIUS Act rule proposals, seeking a minimum of 60 days after the completion of another rule effort by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The OCC's initiative to implement its rule for overseeing stablecoin issuers has significant implications for the outcomes of other rules being pursued 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, together with regulatory proposals yet to emerge 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, emphasize 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 aims to be in place 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, potentially jeopardizing its chances of becoming law this year.