BlackRock has filed a comment letter with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) endorsing the agency's proposed regulatory framework for payment stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act. The world's largest asset manager submitted seven recommendations, urging the OCC to permit broader reserve eligibility and adopt flexible compliance rules. BlackRock prefers the OCC's "Option A," a principles-based approach with an optional quantitative safe harbor, which includes 10% daily and 30% weekly liquidity thresholds, a 40% concentration limit, and a 20-day weighted average maturity cap. The firm wants same-day settling government money market funds counted toward the weekly liquidity floor and asked for equal treatment for qualifying ETFs. For wallet and key holders, the stablecoin framework could enhance payment system security and transparency but also introduces regulatory oversight that may affect how stablecoins are issued and redeemed. If the OCC adopts BlackRock's recommendations, stablecoin reserves could include more liquid assets, potentially reducing default risk but also increasing complexity for users managing stablecoin wallets.

Key facts

• BlackRock backs principles-based stablecoin regulation under the GENIUS Act.
• Firm recommends including same-day settling GMMFs in weekly liquidity floor.
• BlackRock urges no extra 20% cap on tokenized reserve assets.
• Proposal addresses reserve assets, diversification, concentration, and capital standards.
• Larry Fink sees tokenization as a new asset class for institutional portfolios.

KeyAudit data perspective