OCC finalizes first GENIUS Act stablecoin rule, changes approach to rewards, and more

The following article is adapted from The Block's newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.

Happy Wednesday! Bitcoin is trading higher near $84,500, while its volatility has fallen close to 2026 lows as traders await the Fed's next decision and the U.S. midterm elections.

In today's newsletter, the OCC issues its first final rule implementing the GENIUS Act, Standard Chartered agrees to acquire Zodia Custody, Dogecoin Labs launches to expand DOGE's use beyond memes, and more.

Meanwhile, Grayscale expands in-kind subscriptions to 10 crypto ETFs and trusts, while BitGo launches a new innovation unit to develop crypto applications.

P.S. Don't forget to check out The Latent, our sister website covering AI. Get The Latent Daily here and all other The Block newsletters here. Also, follow The Block and The Latent on X for more updates.

OCC finalizes first GENIUS Act stablecoin rule, changes approach to rewards

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has become the first U.S. regulator to finalize rules under the GENIUS Act, with the new stablecoin framework set to take effect on Jan. 18, 2027.

• The rule sets requirements for permitted stablecoin issuers, including reserve backing, redemptions, risk management, and custody. It also covers foreign stablecoin issuers.
• One major change from the OCC's proposed rule is how it treats stablecoin rewards paid through third parties, such as platforms offering users rewards on their holdings.
• The proposal had included a presumption that some third-party reward arrangements could be illegal. The OCC dropped that presumption in its final rule and will instead review such arrangements case by case.
• Stablecoin issuers are still banned from directly paying interest to holders. The issue of third-party rewards has also been a major disagreement between banks and crypto firms during negotiations over the broader Clarity Act.

Standard Chartered signs agreements to acquire Zodia Custody

Standard Chartered has signed definitive agreements to acquire 100% of crypto custody firm Zodia Custody, five months after its earlier non-binding offer was accepted.

• The deal covers Zodia Custody Limited, which has regulated businesses in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, the UAE and Luxembourg. It still needs regulatory approvals, and financial terms were not disclosed.
• Once completed, Zodia's crypto custody operations will become part of Standard Chartered's Securities Services business.
• Zodia's software and professional services business will become a separate company called Zodia Solutions under SC Ventures, with Standard Chartered among its customers.

Dogecoin Labs launches to expand DOGE beyond memes

Dogecoin Labs has launched with support from the Dogecoin Foundation, bringing together three Dogecoin products to help expand DOGE's use in payments, DeFi and other applications.

• Led by CEO Jordan Jefferson, the new organization combines the MyDoge wallet, DogeOS application platform, and Such App payments product.
• MyDoge has more than 500,000 users, according to the company. DogeOS launched its EVM-compatible public testnet in September, while Such App offers merchant payment tools such as invoices and QR payments.
• The launch comes as Dogecoin's push into traditional finance has struggled to attract investors. Bitwise announced plans to close its Dogecoin ETF in September after weak demand.

Dataline raises $10.6 million for AI agent data network, plans token sale

Dataline has raised $10.6 million in seed funding for its decentralized data network for AI agents and plans to hold a public token sale.

• Lattice and Samsung-backed Dispersion Capital co-led the round, with Coinbase Ventures, Symbolic Capital, Anagram and Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev among the investors.
• Dataline provides onchain and offchain data that AI agents can access and pay for when needed. The platform is already live and covers around 50 data sources, according to co-founder Nuo Shi.
• The startup plans to launch its token by the end of the year and hold a public sale on Base through Uniswap's Continuous Clearing Auction platform. It expects to announce more details next week.

Solana's Alpenglow upgrade goes live, cuts finality to 150 milliseconds

Solana has activated its Alpenglow consensus upgrade, reducing transaction finality from about 12.8 seconds to around 150 milliseconds, according to core engineering firm Anza.

• The upgrade replaces Solana's original TowerBFT consensus protocol, which had been in use since the network launched in March 2020. It combines the previous two-step confirmation process into one step, allowing transactions to become final much faster.
• Anza is also working on further improvements, including Rotor to speed up how block data moves across the network and Quantumglow for post-quantum security.

In the next 24 hours

• Weekly jobless claims, September leading indicators, and the October Kansas City Fed manufacturing survey are due Thursday.
• ECB Governing Council member Fabio Panetta is scheduled to speak Thursday, while the Eurozone's preliminary October consumer confidence data is also due.
• Limitless (LMTS), MultiBank Group (MBG) and Scroll (SCR) token unlocks are scheduled for Thursday.

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