The cryptocurrency sector is witnessing increased involvement from bankers in regulatory efforts, with a coalition of bank trade associations recently requesting 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, US bankers are seeking extended comment periods for three GENIUS Act rule proposals, with a minimum of 60 days after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) completes its rulemaking process. The OCC's regulations for stablecoin issuers are 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 directly contingent on the OCC's final framework and represent a complex body of regulatory work. The banking organizations, including the American Bankers Association and the Bank Policy Institute, believe that having sufficient time to evaluate the proposed rules together and against the finalized OCC framework will enable them to provide more comprehensive and useful comments to the agencies. The GENIUS Act is scheduled to be implemented by 2027, although federal agencies often grant extensions for complex rules.
The Treasury Department has not responded to a request for comment on the bank industry's request. Meanwhile, the same bankers 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.