WASHINGTON— The U.S. Department of the Treasury has issued its first proposed rule under the GENIUS Act, seeking public comment on how it should determine whether state-level stablecoin regulatory regimes are “substantially similar” to the new federal framework for payment stablecoin issuers.
Under the proposal, payment stablecoin issuers with no more than $10 billion in consolidated total outstanding issuance could choose to operate under a state-level regime instead of direct federal oversight, but only if Treasury determines that state framework closely aligns with federal standards established under the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act. Treasury said the proposal is intended to set out broad-based principles for making that determination.
Treasury said the NPRM builds on an advance notice of proposed rulemaking issued last September that sought public input on a broad range of GENIUS Act implementation questions. The department is now inviting comments from all interested stakeholders as it begins the formal rulemaking process tied to the law.
Comments on the proposal will be due within 60 days after publication in the Federal Register, Treasury said, with submissions to be posted publicly on Regulations.gov. The move marks the latest step in the federal rollout of the stablecoin framework, which is also triggering parallel rulemakings at other regulators, including the NCUA for credit-union-related stablecoin issuers