US rule on stablecoin interest takes effect January 18, 2027: what changes for investors in Europe

The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency investments carry a high degree of risk. Always conduct your own research.In context: the US banking regulator OCC presented its final rule on payment stablecoins on October 21, 2026, effective January 18, 2027. The surviving interest ban is documented; what the deleted presumption means for reward arrangements is assessed by the editorial desk further down.Here is what is documented: the US banking regulator Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, or OCC, presented its final rule on payment stablecoins on October 21, 2026. The rule takes effect on January 18, 2027, the same day the underlying statute begins to bite. The ban on paying holders interest or a yield purely for holding a stablecoin remains in place. What the agency has struck out is a passage from the draft under which certain payments routed through third parties would have counted from the outset as circumventing that ban. Our own assessment follows further down: the case-by-case review that replaces that presumption moves the question of which reward model is permitted out of the rul...