Stablecoins Enter the Banking Perimeter With a New Rulebook

February 2026 was the month stablecoins started looking less like a crypto side quest and more like regulated payments infrastructure as regulators put forward draft rules and major players began lining up for bank-style charters. On February 25, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued its proposal for implementing the GENIUS Act, inviting public comments until May 1. A few weeks earlier, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) extended the comment period on its proposed approval requirements until May 18.

The market hasn’t been waiting around either. On February 18, Stripe-owned stablecoin infrastructure platform Bridge announced that it had received conditional approval from the OCC to form a national trust bank. This would allow Bridge to position itself as fully compliant with the GENIUS Act and offer stablecoin issuance, custody, and reserve management within the regulated banking perimeter of the OCC in its capacity as the primary federal supervisor of the US banking system. Other stablecoin firms are expected to follow suit, allowing them to operate within trusted bank-like guardrails.

The GENIUS Act is the reason the OCC and FDIC are proposing new stablecoin rules. While the act sets policies and guardrails, it falls to federal regulators to turn those rules into enforceable requirements, including what organizations need to do, how they can apply for a charter, and how they’ll be audited. The OCC oversees national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches of foreign banks, while the FDIC oversees state nonmember banks and savings associations. All entities that are granted a charter will be able to issue payment stablecoins.

For regulators, the goal is to guarantee the outcomes put forth by the GENIUS Act. Most importantly, this includes that all approved entities wishing to issue payment stablecoins must ensure they’re fully backed by identifiable reserves at a 1:1 parity with fiat currency, such as cash equivalents or treasury securities. The rules also cover redemption, oversight, and risk management. For firms like Bridge, this means enabling custody, insurance, and reserve management under the OCC’s oversight, without necessarily taking deposits or making loans unlike a typical bank.

The latest developments are good news for fintechs involved in the space, which have long sought to bring cryptocurrency under a trusted perimeter regulated in a similar way to traditional financial institutions. Once those firms are approved to issue payment stablecoins, they can offer benefits like instant settlements (unlike SWIFT or ACH), reduced costs, enhanced operational efficiency, and cheaper cross-border transfers. Moreover, having a clearer and more consistent rulebook can reduce uncertainty while raising the bar on governance and operational discipline.

The next development will come as regulators collect and address feedback and turn their proposals into final requirements. With public comments closing in May, fintechs have a window of opportunity to shape how regulators will handle matters like reserves, redemptions, and reporting. Either way, one thing’s clear: stablecoins are about to earn their place alongside mainstream payment rails.