Crypto policy is moving from talk to implementation as the OCC, FDIC and Federal Reserve begin to outline a regulatory scope for stablecoins and tokenized deposits in the United States, Bank of America said in a Monday report.
The recent approvals and proposals mark the start of a multi-year transition that could push more real-world assets and payments on-chain, analysts led by Ebrahim Poonawala said.
The OCC’s recent conditional approval of national trust bank charters for five digital asset companies is a significant step toward federal acceptance of stablecoins and crypto custody, analysts wrote. The charters open the door for digital asset activity within the regulated banking system, provided it is offered as a fiduciary service with strong liquidity, compliance and risk controls, analysts say.
The FDIC is expected to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking this week detailing how payment stablecoins issued by subsidiaries of FDIC-supervised banks can be approved, analysts noted. These rules, required by the GENIUS Act, must be finalized by July 2026 and take effect by January 2027.
The report also highlights comments from Federal Reserve officials indicating collaboration with other banking regulators on capital, liquidity and diversification standards for stablecoin issuers, as required by the GENIUS Act. Analysts link this to a broader global push, pointing to a recent proposal from the Bank of England for a regime governing systemic sterling stablecoins, including asset holding requirements and exposure caps.
Tokenized deposits vs stablecoin
On the market structure side, Bank of America highlighted Singapore-based JPMorgan and DBS, which are exploring an interoperable framework for transferring tokenized value between public and permissioned blockchains.
This work, building on JPMorgan’s JPMD token deposit initiative, highlights a live debate over whether token deposits are a better alternative to stablecoins, the report said.
Bank of America sees a plausible future in which transactions in bonds, stocks, money market funds and cross-border payments migrate on-chain, supported by new rules and institutional-grade infrastructure.
To prepare, banks will need to not only master blockchain, but also be ready to experiment with tokenized assets and on-chain settlement, the report adds.
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