Treasury opens its first GENIUS Act rulemaking (August 18, 2026), proposing to define when a payment stablecoin is issued, offered, or sold in the United States and reaching intermediaries that convert, redeem, or list one; comments close October 19. Comptroller Gould has committed the OCC to a final stablecoin rule by November and to processing issuer applications in early 2027. Comment periods closed on the FDIC's BSA and sanctions standards (August 4) and on the joint customer identification program proposal (August 21).

National trust chartering produced three distinct outcomes in five weeks: the OCC granted World Liberty Trust Company preliminary conditional approval to issue and custody USD1 (Corporate Decision #1385, August 14), returned Zerohash's application as materially deficient (July 17), and received a de novo filing from Dakota (August 3). The FDIC adopted a two-phase deposit insurance process granting contingent approval within 120 days, and the OCC restated the digital-asset path to a national charter in News Release 2026-67. Minnesota's custody authority for state-chartered banks and credit unions took effect August 1. The SEC sent a rule on investment adviser and investment company custody of crypto assets to OMB on August 25, the step before a formal proposal.

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.

The comment period closed August 17, 2026 on the FFIEC's first overhaul of the CAMELS rating system in 30 years, shifting examiner emphasis from management process toward material financial risk. The SEC-CFTC MOU and Joint Harmonization Initiative continue to reshape ex-ante frameworks alongside revised interagency model risk management guidance.

The SEC proposed Regulation Crypto Assets on August 18, 2026 by a 3-1 written vote, five days after cancelling the open meeting set for August 14, establishing startup and fundraising exemptions for certain crypto asset offerings with comments due October 20. CFTC Chairman Selig has directed staff to draft a crypto asset market structure regime under existing authorities if the CLARITY Act continues to stall; Majority Leader Thune filed cloture on August 8 for a September 15 procedural vote. A Trump Executive Order and the Fed's "skinny" master account proposal remain active on payment-rail access.