The US’s push to bring stablecoins under a formal regulatory structure just took a step further. On Tuesday, April 7, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) approved a notice of proposed rulemaking for the closely watched GENIUS Act.
What does the new rule cover? Everything from how stablecoin issuers hold reserves to what happens when customers need their money.
According to yesterday’s official press release:
“The proposed rule would establish a prudential framework for FDIC-supervised permitted payment stablecoin issuers, including requirements related to reserve assets, redemption, capital, and risk management standards.”
What does the rule actually want?
Notably, the FDIC’s approved proposal sets strict requirements for FDIC-supervised businesses offering stablecoin services. And it also targets banks that don’t issue stablecoin but offer safekeeping or custody around them.
Whether a bank simply holds or mints tokens for its customers, the FDIC wants a comprehensive framework around such services.
The deposit insurance wrinkle
Meanwhile, the most technically interesting piece in the FDIC’s proposal highlights pass-through deposit insurance for capital in stablecoin reserve accounts. This is a grey area that regulators have avoided defining, and the new proposed rule aims to close it.
Furthermore, the FDIC would confirm that the industry treats tokenized deposits qualifying as deposits as traditional deposits under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act. There will be nothing like a regulatory discount or special treatment.
Not the first rule from the FDIC
The latest proposal follows another GENIUS Act rulemaking that the FDIC issued in December 2025. The earlier one defined banks’ application procedure when seeking authorization to issue stablecoins via subsidiaries.
Together, these two rules are starting to shape what a compliant stablecoin regime looks like from the banking viewpoint.
Meanwhile, the FDIC has issued a 60-day feedback window before finalizing the rules. And this is long enough for considerable industry pushback.
The FDIC move isn’t an isolated one
This is not the only rulemaking on the GENIUS Act that’s in motion. As Kryptnews reported, the US Treasury released its proposed rule under the same law on April 1. And it also opened a 6-day comment window.
The Treasury’s proposal introduced a phrase now gaining traction among policy circles – “substantially similar.”
Notably, the GENIUS Act allows stablecoin providers with an outstanding supply of less than $10 billion to opt for state-level oversight, provided the state framework meets federal equivalency. Now, the Treasury wants the public to help define this equivalency. And banks, crypto firms, and policy groups have 60 days (from April 1) to answer.
Two agencies. Two comment clocks. One Law. The GENIUS Act’s implementation machinery is accelerating.
The US passed the GENIUS Act in July last year. Lawmakers played their part, and regulators are now working to make it a practical law.
