The cryptocurrency sector is once again intersecting with banking interests, as a coalition of bank trade associations petitions the US Department of the Treasury to extend the public comment period for implementing the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act. In a letter to the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, the banking groups request a 60-day extension for commenting on three rule proposals, pending the completion of another rule effort by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
The OCC's stablecoin issuer policing rule is seen as 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. The bankers argue that all these efforts are contingent on the OCC's final framework and represent a complex body of regulatory work. They claim that having sufficient time to evaluate the proposed rules together and against the finalized OCC framework will allow for more comprehensive and useful 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. Meanwhile, the same banking groups are 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.