American banking industry groups call for a pause on the Genius Act stablecoin regulations

Crypto World News reports that major banking trade groups in the United States have asked the Treasury Department and the FDIC to pause the comment periods for three Genius Act rules until the OCC ultimately finalizes its stablecoin framework. Meanwhile, stablecoin startup Agora filed for a national trust bank charter on April 24 to establish a federal presence before the regulations tighten. On April 22, the Genius Act banking groups formally filed objections, requesting an extension of the comment period for the three implementing rules, arguing that the Treasury Department’s equivalency rules, the FDIC’s issuer standards rules, and the anti-money laundering directives are “substantively related” to the OCC framework that is yet to be released and cannot be effectively evaluated before the OCC issues its final rules. The bill was signed in July 2025 and is scheduled to take effect on January 18, 2027. Van Eck said the banking industry’s reaction was not surprising, calling the law “one of the most important banking legislations of our generation,” and noting that users may transfer deposits to stablecoin platforms offering higher yields, eroding the gap between bank deposit interest rates and returns.