BPI and CBA Comment on FDIC Stablecoin Rule Under GENIUS Act

Ladies and Gentlemen:

The undersigned trade associations (the "Associations")^[1] appreciate the opportunity to comment on the notice of proposed rulemaking (the "NPR") issued by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the "FDIC") regarding the implementation of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (the "GENIUS Act")^[2]

We appreciate the FDIC's careful consideration of the regulations that it is required to issue under the GENIUS Act, particularly given the numerous significant policy questions that implementation of the GENIUS Act raises. The way in which the GENIUS Act is implemented, and the prudential requirements that will apply to payment stablecoin issuers, could have significant effects on financial stability, credit creation, consumer protection and the broader economy. Changes and clarifications to the proposed rule are important to help to ensure the GENIUS Act is implemented in a manner that, as Congress envisioned, appropriately balances the benefits and innovative potential of payment stablecoins with the broader economic and consumer protection risks that these instruments may pose.

In this letter, the Associations address the FDIC's proposed rules under the GENIUS Act and the FDIC's proposed clarification that deposits held at an insured depository institution (an "IDI") as reserves for a payment stablecoin are deposits of the payment stablecoin issuer that are insured as corporate deposits and are not insured to payment stablecoin holders on a passthrough basis. We do not address the aspects of the NPR related to the treatment of tokenized deposits under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (the "FDIA") and regulations of the FDIC. The Bank Policy Institute and The Clearing House Association are submitting a separate comment letter on these aspects of the NPR.

The Associations, along with other trade associations, submitted a response to the FDIC's separate notice of proposed rulemaking regarding the FDIC's implementation of approval requirements under the GENIUS Act for prospective permitted payment stablecoin issuers ("PPSIs")^[3] that are subsidiaries of FDIC-supervised institutions.^[4]

To read the full comment letter, please click here, or click on the download button below.

[1] Please see Annex A for a description of the Associations.

[2] FDIC, GENIUS Act Requirements and Standards for FDIC-Supervised Permitted Payment Stablecoin Issuers and Insured Depository Institutions, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 91 Fed. Reg. 18,534 (Apr. 10, 2026).

[3] Throughout this letter, unless otherwise noted, a "PPSI" refers to a person formed in the United States that is a subsidiary of an insured state nonmember bank or state savings association that has been approved by the FDIC to issue payment stablecoins.

[4] See American Bankers Association, Bank Policy Institute, Consumer Bankers Association, Independent Community Bankers of America and The Clearing House Association, Joint Letter Regarding Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Approval Requirements for Issuance of Payment Stablecoins by Subsidiaries of FDIC-Supervised Insured Depository Institutions (RIN 3064-AG20) (May 18, 2026), available at: https://www.fdic.gov/federal-register-publications/aba-bpi-clearing-house-cba-icba-drew-ruben-rin-3064-ag202.pdf.