Within one week, a national bank regulator finalized the rulebook for US payment stablecoins, a crypto company won the federal trust charter it had been waiting on, and the Treasury Secretary stood on that company’s stage to say what Congress had failed to deliver could be partly made up by agencies. The broader crypto bill meant to settle the industry’s biggest questions is still stuck in the Senate.
A Hard Deadline for Stablecoin Issuers
On October 21, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued its final rule implementing the GENIUS Act, the federal law signed in July 2025 that governs payment stablecoins. The rule covers issuers and related custody activity, and it takes effect on January 18, 2027, the same day the Act itself does. The agency first floated the proposal on February 25 and it reached the Federal Register on March 2. The final text is published in OCC Bulletin 2026-50.
The date matters more than any single provision. After January 18, issuing a payment stablecoin in the US without approval becomes unlawful, which leaves banks, issuers and crypto firms less than three months to get ready. Law firm summaries describe requirements for reserves held one-to-one and a bar on paying yield solely for holding a stablecoin.
Applicants face a practical problem as well. Issuers must file “substantially complete” applications before the deadline to qualify for the waivers the OCC is expected to offer, but WilmerHale noted in its client alert that the application form had not yet been released. The rule also leaves out anti-money-laundering and sanctions requirements, which are due to arrive separately.
Comptroller Jonathan Gould framed the rule as the agency “providing a clear, practical framework for payment stablecoin innovation,” according to Forbes.
Ripple Gets Its Charter
Five days after the rule, on Monday, October 26, Ripple announced final OCC approval for Ripple National Trust Bank. The bank can hold the segregated reserves backing Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin, serve as collateral trustee for RLUSD holders, and provide fiduciary custody for digital assets. Ripple had held conditional approval since the OCC cleared five national trust charters in December 2025. Cointelegraph reports that Circle received its own final approval in July.
Ripple’s announcement carried a line from CEO Brad Garlinghouse: “Final approval for Ripple National Trust Bank is what that looks like in practice.”
Bessent Makes the Dollar Argument
The next day, Tuesday, October 27, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared alongside Garlinghouse at Ripple’s Swell conference in New York. His pitch went beyond regulation. Dollar-backed stablecoins, he said, could become a meaningful source of demand for US Treasuries, particularly in emerging markets with high inflation. He said stablecoins would be “an important source of funding for the Treasury,” as American Banker reported.
He also said that more than 90 percent of stablecoins are pegged to the dollar. Another outlet, DigitalToday, cited CoinGecko data putting the share above 98 percent. The two figures come from different sources and should not be read as one claim.
That is a notable way for a Treasury Secretary to talk about an industry that was, not long ago, treated mainly as a policing problem. Stablecoins are being described as a tool for extending the reach of the dollar, though it is worth remembering that Bessent made these remarks on a stage hosted by one of the companies that stands to benefit, and his appearance should not be read as an endorsement beyond what he actually said.
The Bill That Stalled
The comfort of the stablecoin framework contrasts sharply with the state of the CLARITY Act, which would settle how authority is divided between the SEC and the CFTC and how tokens are classified. The House passed its version in July 2025. The Senate built its own through the Banking and Agriculture committees, and Republicans released updated text on July 22, 2026.
On September 15, the Senate voted on cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 3633 and fell short, 49 to 50 (Roll Call 234), eleven votes shy of the 60 required. Because it was a procedural vote, the bill was never debated or amended. Every Democrat who voted opposed it, as did Republican Senators Collins, Hawley and Moran. Sen. Thom Tillis also voted no, but as a maneuver, and he entered a motion to reconsider that keeps a second vote possible. “This is not the end for the Clarity Act,” he said afterward, according to the Paul Hastings Crypto Policy Tracker.
Two disputes have driven the standoff: whether stablecoin issuers can pay yield or rewards, a fight between banks and the crypto industry, and ethics rules on crypto holdings by public officials.
Speed Versus Staying Power
Asked about the failed vote, Bessent called it disappointing and said Treasury can work with the SEC and CFTC to cover part of the gap. He also said regulators can set “guardrails” against debanking, though he did not say how.
Agency action can move faster than legislation, but it carries a tradeoff. Rules written by regulators are easier for a future administration to rewrite than a statute is. The GENIUS Act, a law with a fixed date, sits on firmer ground than whatever the agencies assemble for the rest of the market.
What to Watch
The next test arrives on November 3, when the US midterm elections will reshape the Senate calendar. TD Cowen, as relayed by DigitalToday, expects further delays for the CLARITY Act. Tillis’s motion to reconsider leaves the door open, but no vote has been scheduled, and the outlook could shift quickly after the election.
In the meantime, the clock on January 18 keeps running. The firms that want to issue dollar tokens in the US will need to file applications before the OCC has even published the form, and the answer to who regulates the rest of crypto may come from agencies rather than lawmakers.