The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has withdrawn a proposed test that would have presumed certain affiliate-funded stablecoin rewards to be prohibited yield. However, the agency’s final rule keeps the GENIUS Act’s broader ban on issuers paying holders interest or yield simply for holding, using or retaining a payment stablecoin.
The rule was finalized on Oct. 21 and, according to CryptoSlate, will take effect on Jan. 18, 2027. It applies to permitted and foreign payment stablecoin issuers within the OCC’s jurisdiction, as well as certain stablecoin custody activities conducted by institutions supervised by the agency. Comptroller Jonathan V. Gould said on X that the OCC had completed the rule ahead of schedule.
Affiliate rewards will be judged case by case
The OCC’s proposal would have created a presumption against arrangements in which a stablecoin issuer paid an affiliate or related third party, and that entity then arranged payments to people who held, used or retained the issuer’s stablecoin. The structure could have covered some rewards programs operated through exchanges or other connected businesses.
The final rule removes that presumption. The OCC said the proposed approach could have captured arrangements that were permissible under the law, while potentially implying that arrangements outside the test were acceptable. In the agency’s view, requiring firms to rebut the presumption could have created compliance costs without providing a corresponding benefit.
Instead, the OCC will examine each rewards arrangement according to its specific facts. It has not published a catalogue of approved or prohibited structures. That means removing the proposed test does not provide a general clearance for exchange-run rewards programs; the legality of an individual arrangement remains dependent on how it operates and whether it falls within the statutory prohibition.
The agency also retained its anti-evasion authority. An issuer cannot avoid the rule merely by paying an agent to distribute interest or yield that the issuer could not lawfully pay directly. Transaction-based payments will likewise require a fact-specific assessment. Payments that are not interest or yield, or that are not made solely because someone holds, uses or retains the stablecoin, are outside the statutory prohibition.
Existing programs receive no special protection
The final rule does not grandfather rewards programs that began before the GENIUS Act. Older programs will be assessed under the same framework as programs launched after the law was enacted or after the rule becomes effective.
The OCC also rejected a proposed safe harbor for small or incidental yield payments. Its explanation was that the statute contains no de minimis exemption for such payments. In practical terms, the size of a payment alone will not determine whether a rewards arrangement is covered by the ban.
The restriction applies equally to institutional and retail holders. The rule also contains no cure period for violations, although the OCC said it will consider the circumstances when exercising enforcement discretion.
The rule preserves the central statutory restriction: a payment stablecoin issuer may not pay holders interest or yield solely for holding, using or retaining the stablecoin. The OCC’s decision therefore removes one proposed method of presuming a violation but does not narrow that underlying prohibition.
Supervision and applications will shape the next phase
The OCC plans to monitor rewards arrangements through issuer applications and its ongoing supervisory work. If it identifies transactions that violate or attempt to evade the yield ban, the agency said it will take action and may issue further public guidance.
The regulator indicated that experience with real-world arrangements could eventually support a more detailed rule explaining how the yield prohibition applies. For now, issuers and related businesses must assess their structures under the statute and the final rule rather than rely on a published list of permitted models.
The rewards provisions are only part of the OCC’s GENIUS Act implementation. Rules concerning the Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money-laundering requirements and sanctions will be handled through separate rulemaking coordinated with the Treasury Department. The OCC’s action is also separate from a Treasury proposal concerning diligence for foreign stablecoins.
The OCC released Paperwork Reduction Act notices alongside the rule. They cover licensing and registration applications and weekly and quarterly reporting forms. The notices provide for a 30-day comment period after publication in the Federal Register, although the posted documents did not contain completed calendar deadlines.
The Jan. 18, 2027 effective date does not indicate when prospective issuers can begin applying. The OCC said a separate announcement will identify when it starts accepting and processing applications and waiver requests.
Moneyiar market picture
Moneyiar market data at 23:34 on Oct. 22, 2026, showed Chainlink (LINK) at $11.9144159663, down 4.75% over 24 hours and 4.32% over seven days. Filecoin (FIL) was $0.9763218488, down 7.55% in 24 hours and 16.29% over seven days.
Gram (prev. Toncoin) (GRAM) stood at $1.3130630322, with a 24-hour decline of 3.38% and a seven-day decline of 4.88%. Stable (STABLE) was priced at $0.0255929743, down 2.49% over 24 hours and 6.39% over seven days. The data is provided as a market snapshot and does not establish a direct connection between those price movements and the OCC rule.
