The cryptocurrency sector often finds itself at the forefront of regulatory efforts, and this time, a coalition of US bank trade associations has requested that the US Department of the Treasury extend the public consultation period for the implementation of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, which was passed last year. In a letter sent to the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, US bankers are seeking an extension of the comment period for three different GENIUS Act rule proposals, asking for 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 stablecoin issuer policing rule 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 banking organizations argue that all these efforts are directly contingent on the OCC's final framework and represent a complex and extensive body of regulatory work.
They claim that having sufficient time to evaluate the proposed rules together and against the finalized OCC framework will allow them to provide more comprehensive and useful comments to the agencies. The GENIUS Act is scheduled to be implemented by 2027, although it is not uncommon for federal agencies to grant extensions for complex rules. The Treasury Department has not yet 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.