The American Bankers Association (ABA) has called for an extended period to gather additional input as detailed rules are drafted to implement the GENIUS Act, a stablecoin bill.

On April 22 local time, blockchain media outlet Cointelegraph reported that the ABA sent a letter to the Treasury Department, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) asking them to extend the deadline for submitting comments on the GENIUS Act.

Its key request is for an additional 60-day comment period after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issues its final rules. The ABA argued that rules being prepared by other agencies depend heavily on the content of the OCC rules. It said it is difficult to properly assess the impact and consistency of the remaining rules while the OCC final draft has not been confirmed.

The letter also said the FDIC acknowledged those linkages. The ABA said it specified that they sought alignment with the OCC's proposed rules across multiple areas, and requested views on how far final rules should be further aligned for institutions subject to the GENIUS Act. It said, "It is impossible to provide meaningful comments when the final proposal has not been finalized."

The GENIUS Act is a stablecoin bill that U.S. President Donald Trump signed in July 2025. After the bill was signed, the implementation process moved to regulators including the Treasury Department and the FDIC, which must finalize detailed implementing rules. Under the law, the effective date is set as the earlier of 120 days after the final rules are announced or 18 months after enactment. If the request is accepted, the implementation schedule could be delayed by up to about two months.

The banking sector is involved not only in detailed stablecoin regulation but also in discussions on the CLARITY Act, a crypto market structure bill. The banking lobby also objected to a recent White House report that found the impact on banks from a ban on interest income on stablecoins would be minimal. That is because a change in the legal status of stablecoin revenue structures could affect competition between banks and non-bank operators.

Congressional debate has also yet to gather pace. The CLARITY Act has not yet reached an agreement for passage in the Senate, and Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina is reported to have recommended to Tim Scott, the Republican ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, that the bill be scheduled for review in May. In that case, a Senate floor vote could also be pushed back further.

In this way, the pace of implementing stablecoin legislation is increasingly likely to be more affected by the rulemaking process than the legislative stage. With consistency issues among regulators intersecting with the banking sector's call for more time to submit comments, there is speculation that the date when the U.S. stablecoin system is actually applied could be later than initially expected.