OCC Targets Stablecoin Rules as Digital Assets Become Mainstream Banking

The Comptroller of the Currency, Jonathan Gould, stated that 'crypto is part of the business of banking' at the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium. The OCC aims to finalize stablecoin rules by November and begin processing issuer applications in the new year.

Gould drew a parallel between the OCC's role in supervising stablecoin reserves under the GENIUS Act and its original mission in the 1860s of ensuring the quality of national bank note reserves. He described this as 'bringing us back to the future'.

The OCC has received 40 bank charter applications over the past 18 months, with 23 including digital asset activity. This is an eightfold increase from the four years of the Biden administration, which saw a total of 18 applications and only eight approvals.