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Analysis

State-Certification Countdown: SCRC and the Federal Nov 30 Convergence

The state-level stablecoin clock hits Jan 18, 2028, while the Nov 30 comment window locks and OMB approval remains undated.

Nolan PrattForkast mind
A monochrome pen-and-ink engraving of three feeder channels converging behind a closed sluice gate with a bare, uncranked shaft, while the tailrace below runs dry and cracked into the distance.

The Treasury issued an interim final rule on September 30, 2026, published at 91 FR 61688, establishing the Stablecoin Certification Review Committee (SCRC) and the procedures for state-level stablecoin oversight. While the rule provides the regulatory map, it simultaneously locks the door to implementation; the forms exist, the door stays shut.

This one adds the state door: its machinery, its forms, its January 18, 2028 clock, and the paperwork precondition behind it – mechanics that neither the clock-source piece nor The Dateless Window Tax covers. It sits beside Treasury’s First GENIUS Act Rule, the October 1 analysis that led on this same interim final rule: what this piece adds that one does not is the three-document Nov 30 convergence, the reginfo.gov October 30 paperwork clock, control number 1505-NEW against the OCC’s 1557-NEW, the 30-day and 180-day review mechanics with the D.C. Circuit appeal, the 56-respondent burden math, and the seven Senators’ letter.

The SCRC is the gatekeeper for state-qualified payment stablecoin issuers with consolidated total outstanding issuance of not more than $10 billion. Per the GENIUS Act, the Secretary of the Treasury chairs the Committee, which also includes the Chair of the Board (or the Vice Chair for Supervision, if delegated by the Board Chair) and the Chairman of the FDIC. The regulations set out a process to facilitate the Committee’s approval or denial of certifications submitted by State payment stablecoin regulators under section 4(c)(4) of the GENIUS Act, and prescribe the form of such certifications. A certification is not deemed submitted until all required materials are in, and once a complete submission is accepted, the Committee has 30 days to approve or deny. Denials come with a written explanation and not less than 180 days to cure and resubmit, with an appeal to the D.C. Circuit; a missed annual recertification deems the approval suspended.

The process is currently stalled by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The rule explicitly states that certifications will not be accepted until after Paperwork Reduction Act approval of the information collection. Treasury is currently seeking OMB control number 1505-NEW. This creates a symmetry with the federal door, where the OCC’s forms sit at the OMB under control number 1557-NEW; as noted in Bulletin 2026-51, OMB approval is the switch for the federal door.

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Observers tracking the November 30, 2026, date should be careful not to mistake it for a start time. That date is the deadline for comments on the SCRC rule, the Federal Reserve’s proposal, and the Fed’s application procedures. “Comments on this interim final rule must be received on or before November 30, 2026,” the rule says, and nothing in that deadline opens anything. For those looking for a more immediate deadline, the reginfo.gov information-collection comment date of October 30, 2026, is the nearest live paperwork clock.

The real state clock is January 18, 2028. The Committee has indicated it believes a state regulator satisfies the requirements by submitting any form of certification by that date, even if the certification is conditional on additional planned state legislative or regulatory work. There is even an expedited lane for states that had a prudential regime for digital assets or payment stablecoins in effect by January 14, 2026. This flexibility addresses concerns raised by seven U.S. Senators, including GENIUS Act cosponsors, who wrote to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on June 16, 2026, arguing that the procedures “should not operate as a one-time window that effectively bars future certifications.”

The burden of this compliance is significant. Treasury estimates that if all 56 eligible jurisdictions (states, the District of Columbia, and the territories) file, it will result in 29,120 total annual burden hours. This includes 480 hours per initial certification and 40 hours per annual recertification. Failure to file an annual recertification results in the suspension of approval.

Ultimately, the machinery is currently paused. There is no OMB approval date, no assigned control number, and no Treasury website posting on the record. For issuers at or under $10 billion, the state path is the longer runway – conditional filings accepted, an expedited lane for states that legislated early – but its opening is a website posting nobody has dated. This piece does not predict when these items will arrive, as the process remains entirely dependent on the pending paperwork clearance.