Federal Reserve proposes first GENIUS Act stablecoin rules for banks
Two proposals cover reserves, capital, risk management and the application process for banks that want to issue payment stablecoins. A 60-day comment period follows Federal Register publication.
The Federal Reserve has published its first two proposed rules under the GENIUS Act, setting out how banks and bank holding companies could apply to issue payment stablecoins.
The drafts require one-to-one reserves in high-quality liquid assets, capital against operational losses, and risk programmes covering redemption, custody and anti-money-laundering controls. Numeric thresholds were not included in the published summary.
The move follows the Senate's failure on 15 September to advance the broader CLARITY Act market-structure bill. Treasury and other agencies are expected to publish their own rules.
Bank-issued stablecoins could give crypto businesses more regulated settlement options with US institutions — but reserve and AML expectations will shape which counterparties banks are willing to serve.