On September 24, 2026 the Federal Reserve Board requested comment on two GENIUS Act proposals for Board-supervised payment stablecoin issuers: one on reserve assets, capital, risk management and safekeeping, including a de novo capital requirement, and one on the application process. The proposals were published in the Federal Register on September 29, and comments close November 30. The OCC has committed to a November final rule and the FDIC to year-end. Comments on Treasury's issuance, offer and sale rule close October 19. On the legislative side, the Senate rejected cloture on the CLARITY Act 49-50 on September 15, and a September 28 Senate report on USDT and Iran-linked wallets and an October 8 letter to Cantor Fitzgerald on its Tether relationship brought sanctions screening and reserve custody into congressional view.

The SEC proposed custody amendments for investment advisers and regulated funds on October 1, 2026, allowing eligible state trust companies to serve as custodians and letting blockchain records count toward compliance under conditions; comments are due 60 days after Federal Register publication. On September 18 the OCC conditionally approved national trust bank charters for Bastion Platforms, Agora Labs and Catena Labs. On October 2 the Independent Community Bankers of America sued the OCC in federal district court over its 2026 national trust bank rule and an earlier interpretive letter, and FinCEN withdrew its 2020 unhosted wallet and 2023 mixing proposals on October 5. Earlier in September the OCC granted OpenReserve Bank and Revolut Bank US full national bank charters, Block applied for a bitcoin custody trust bank charter, and the SEC issued its innovation exemption for tokenized securities venues.

OCC and FDIC finalize a joint rule prohibiting reputation risk from examinations, barring agencies from pressuring institutions to close accounts based on political views, protected speech, or lawful but disfavored business activities. Codification of the debanking reversal is now complete across the federal banking agencies.

On October 7, 2026 Vice Chair for Supervision Bowman announced that the Federal Reserve will organize bank supervision into five regions in place of its 12 Reserve Bank districts. On September 28 Comptroller Gould announced workday limits on on-site examiner visits, with details not yet published. The OCC and FDIC finalized a rule on August 27 that defines "unsafe or unsound practice" in regulation and raises the bar for Matters Requiring Attention, effective November 2. The Fed, FDIC, OCC and NCUA proposed principles-based third-party risk management guidance on September 11, with a companion statement on core service providers; comments close November 16.

The CFTC issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on October 5, 2026 seeking comment on a framework for retail crypto asset transactions (Regulation CTX and Regulation CAM); comments are due 60 days after Federal Register publication. On September 17 the CFTC sent its Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets documents to OIRA for review. The Senate rejected cloture on the CLARITY Act 49-50 on September 15, leaving digital asset market structure to agency rulemaking. The SEC issued a five-year conditional innovation exemption for tokenized securities venues on September 17, and comments on Regulation Crypto Assets close October 20. The Fed's "skinny" master account proposal remains active on payment-rail access.