ABA Says OCC Rule Leaves Crypto Platforms’ Stablecoin Rewards in Place

The American Bankers Association criticized the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s final rule under the GENIUS Act, arguing it leaves crypto platforms free to offer stablecoin rewards.

The OCC previously proposed limits on stablecoin yield but dropped the restrictions in its final rule. The ABA interprets that change as leaving crypto platforms’ current rewards practices in place, with no proposed yield restriction carried into the final version.

The association’s chief executive warned that waiting to respond until deposits have left banks and economic harm has occurred would be a mistake. The warning ties the ABA’s objection to deposit outflows and the timing of a response.

The final rule is the OCC’s decision under the GENIUS Act. For the ABA, the central issue is whether the law’s final treatment of stablecoin yield changes crypto platforms’ ability to offer rewards. The association’s position is that removing the proposed limits preserves the status quo for those platforms.