Three federal comment windows close inside 48 hours. Treasury’s proposal implementing section 3 of the GENIUS Act, the 2025 stablecoin law, stops taking comments Monday, Oct. 19. On Tuesday, Oct. 20, the SEC’s proposed Regulation Crypto Assets and a CFTC request for comment on derivatives tied to the price of computing power close as well.
The timing matters because Congress has stepped back. After the Senate blocked the CLARITY market-structure bill 49–50, the rules for how digital assets are issued, sold and traded are being written docket by docket. The Treasury rule carries the hardest clock: the GENIUS Act takes effect Jan. 18, 2027, 91 days after its comment period ends, whether or not the rule is final.
1. The three dockets at a glance
| Agency and document | Citation | What it does | Comments close |
|---|---|---|---|
| Treasury, notice of proposed rulemaking | 91 FR 53368; TREAS-DO-2026-0496 | Implements GENIUS Act section 3 limits on stablecoin issuance, offer and sale | Oct. 19 |
| SEC, proposed rule | 91 FR 54510; File No. S7-2026-27 | Two offering exemptions and an investment contract safe harbor for crypto assets | Oct. 20 |
| CFTC, request for comment | 91 FR 54259; RIN 3038-AF77 | Asks how exchanges could list futures on compute prices | Oct. 20 |
2. Treasury: who may issue a stablecoin
Treasury published the proposal Aug. 18 (FR Doc. 2026-16796, RIN 1505-AC95). It covers section 3 of the Act, codified at 12 U.S.C. 5902, which the notice says sets out “the fundamental architecture of the payment stablecoin market in the United States.”
Section 3(a) makes it unlawful for anyone other than a permitted payment stablecoin issuer to issue a payment stablecoin in the United States. That means a US-formed subsidiary of an insured depository institution approved under section 5, a federal qualified issuer, or a state qualified issuer. Knowing participation in a violation carries a fine of up to $1 million per violation, up to five years in prison, or both.
Section 3(b) reaches the intermediaries. Under 3(b)(1), starting July 18, 2028, a digital asset service provider such as an exchange or custodian may not offer or sell a payment stablecoin to a person in the US unless a permitted issuer issued it. Section 3(b)(2), which deals with foreign issuers, applies from the Act’s effective date. The reach is deliberately long:
is intended to have extraterritorial effect if conduct involves the offer or sale of a payment stablecoin to a person located in the United States.
EXCERPT · Treasury NPRM, quoting section 3(e) of the GENIUS Act (12 U.S.C. 5902(e))
3. SEC: a registration exemption built for crypto
The SEC’s proposal (Release Nos. 33-11434 and 34-106150, FR Doc. 2026-17183, Aug. 21) is the longest of the three, running from page 54510 to 54655. It would create a new Regulation Crypto Assets with two exemptions from section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933.
- Startup exemption (Rule 200): offerings of up to $5 million over a four-year period.
- Fundraising exemption (Rules 300 to 307): up to $75 million in each 12-month period, with financial statements and ongoing reporting.
- Investment contract safe harbor (Rule 400): if its conditions are met, a crypto asset would be deemed not subject to an investment contract under the Securities Act and Exchange Act definitions of “security.”
- State preemption (Rule 500): a “qualified purchaser” definition that would displace state registration and qualification requirements.
Both exemptions require principles-based narrative disclosure, and issuers stay subject to the antifraud and antimanipulation provisions. Offering limits would adjust for inflation under Rule 102.
The SEC frames the goal as facilitating “capital formation” while “ensuring that investors are adequately protected.” The case for the package is legal certainty: a defined path to raise money and a defined exit from securities status. The case for caution centers on Rule 400, because an asset that clears the safe harbor leaves the securities definition and the disclosure regime with it. The more likely reading is that the safe harbor’s conditions, not the dollar caps, will draw the heaviest comment.
4. CFTC: futures on computing power
The CFTC document (FR Doc. 2026-17163) is a request for comment, not a proposed rule. It asks what exchanges should weigh before listing derivatives on “compute,” the processing power behind large language models. Its example underlier is the hourly rental price of compute from a B200.
The Commission’s preliminary view is skeptical of the plumbing. It says compute markets are fragmented, that price formation “primarily occurs in opaque bilateral transactions,” and that compute “may not yet exhibit” fungibility, standardization and sufficient liquidity. It expects most early contracts to be cash-settled, which puts the weight on whether any price index can meet the Core Principle 3 test of not being readily susceptible to manipulation. Separate questions cover retail protections and perpetual futures.
A request for comment writes no rule. It tells the market what the regulator is worried about.
The voting summary records that Chairman Selig voted in the affirmative and no commissioner voted in the negative.
5. What happens next
Closing a comment period starts the agency’s work rather than ending it. Treasury must weigh the record and decide whether to finalize, and section 3(b)(2) applies on the effective date regardless. A final SEC rule needs a commission vote, from the same thinned-out commission that is weighing the Form 10-S proposal. The CFTC could follow with a proposal or guidance, or do nothing; the request itself does not change how exchanges self-certify or seek approval for new contracts.
- Oct. 19: Treasury comments close on the GENIUS Act section 3 proposal.
- Oct. 20: comments close on SEC File No. S7-2026-27 and the CFTC compute request.
- Nov. 18: comments close on the CFTC’s event contracts proposal.
- Jan. 18, 2027: the GENIUS Act takes effect, 91 days after Treasury’s window shuts.
- July 18, 2028: the section 3(b)(1) bar on service providers selling stablecoins from non-permitted issuers begins.
- GENIUS Act Regulations on Payment Stablecoin Issuance, Offer, and Sale (FR Doc. 2026-16796) — Federal Register · federalregister.gov
- Regulation Crypto Assets, proposed rule (FR Doc. 2026-17183) — Federal Register · federalregister.gov
- Request for Comment on the Listing of Compute Derivatives Contracts (FR Doc. 2026-17163) — Federal Register · federalregister.gov
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