The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) proposed rules for stablecoins could challenge the close financial relationships between stablecoin issuers and cryptocurrency platforms, potentially impacting reward programs offered to customers. The 376-page proposal, stemming from the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, aims to regulate domestic issuers, but its language regarding yield and rewards has sparked concern within the industry.
According to the OCC proposal, close ties between issuers and platforms handling their tokens “would make it highly likely that the issuer’s payments of yield or interest would be made to the holder through an intermediary or an attempt to evade the GENIUS Act’s prohibition on interest and yield payments.” While firms can rebut this presumption with sufficient evidence, the language has raised questions about the future of stablecoin rewards, particularly those offered through third parties like Coinbase.
The industry has operated under the assumption that the GENIUS Act’s ban on yield or rewards from issuers doesn’t extend to third-party programs. However, the OCC’s proposed language suggests that such arrangements could be seen as an improper evasion of the law. Crypto lobbyists and lawyers are currently analyzing the details of the proposal.
Todd Phillips, a former lawyer at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. And business professor at Georgia State University, suggested the OCC’s language isn’t a definitive rejection of all rewards programs. “I think there’s some play in the joints of what the OCC has proposed,” Phillips told CoinDesk on Thursday. He noted the language is uncertain on whether it intends to “shut down all permutations of stablecoin rewards.” Phillips added, “The OCC has clearly gone beyond what the statute requires,” and the extent of the restriction “is open to debate.”
The proposed rulemaking comes as the crypto industry pushes for the passage of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which aims to establish broader regulations for U.S. Digital asset markets. The issue of stablecoin yield has become a central point of contention in negotiations, with U.S. Bankers arguing that such yield threatens their reliance on customer deposits. Crypto firms have maintained that the GENIUS Act allows third parties to offer rewards on stablecoin holdings.
One industry insider involved in the Clarity Act negotiations suggested the OCC’s action could undermine the banks’ lobbying efforts, questioning the require for further legislative debate on stablecoin yield if the banking regulator is already addressing it through rulemaking. However, they also acknowledged the industry is likely to challenge the proposed rule even as the Clarity Act progresses through Congress.
Jonathan Gould, head of the OCC, has previously advocated for equal treatment of crypto firms in the bank chartering process, stating that limiting their access to banking charters would restrict the evolution of the federal banking system. Five firms – Circle, Ripple, Paxos, BitGo Bank & Trust, and Fidelity Digital Assets – have received conditional approval for national trust bank charters from the OCC, according to a December 2025 announcement. Circle’s First National Digital Currency Bank and Ripple National Trust Bank were conditionally approved, while Paxos Trust Co.’s state charter will be converted to a national one.
The OCC’s proposals, advanced by Gould – a former chief legal officer at Bitfury who has generally been supportive of the crypto industry – have cast doubt on industry confidence that GENIUS will protect stablecoin rewards programs, a significant business for Coinbase. Coinbase has not yet publicly commented on the proposed rulemaking, and a company spokesperson declined to comment.
The proposed rulemaking is preliminary and will be followed by a public comment period and a final rulemaking process, which typically takes months. At a Thursday hearing before the Senate Banking Committee, stablecoin rewards were frequently cited as a concern for the banking industry. Senator Angela Alsobrooks, a Democrat, expressed a desire to negotiate a compromise in the Clarity Act to ban crypto rewards that resemble deposit accounts. Negotiations among political parties, banks, the crypto industry, and the White House have yet to yield a compromise that can be brought to a vote in the Senate.