Can an exchange or platform pay rewards on stablecoins?

Under the GENIUS Act this is still being settled. The OCC's final rule of 21 October 2026 keeps the ban on issuers and anti-evasion provisions, but dropped a proposed presumption that yield paid through affiliates or related third parties breaks the rule, in favour of case-by-case review. In the EU, MiCA also bans crypto-asset service providers from granting interest on e-money tokens.

From Where a business can earn yield on USDC and USDT, and what the risks are, by . Updated .

The wider picture

The key points from the guide this answer comes from:

  1. Issuers can't pay you interest on stablecoins: the GENIUS Act bans it for US payment stablecoin issuers, and MiCA bans it for issuers and crypto-asset service providers in the EU.
  2. Yield on a stablecoin balance comes from somewhere else: lending it to borrowers on a lending protocol, rewards a platform pays from its own revenue, or a fund holding short-term government debt.
  3. Each source carries risks a bank deposit doesn't: smart contract bugs, borrower defaults, withdrawal delays when a pool is fully lent, and the issuer's own risk. None is covered by deposit insurance.
  4. For a business, the questions are where the yield comes from, how fast you can withdraw, what happens in a bad week, and how it's taxed and accounted for.

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The full guide

Issuers can't pay interest on stablecoins under the GENIUS Act or MiCA, so yield comes from lending protocols, platform rewards or tokenized Treasury funds, each with risks a bank deposit doesn't have. Know where the return comes from and how fast you can withdraw.

Read Where a business can earn yield on USDC and USDT, and what the risks are, with its sources.

General information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules and providers' terms change; check the sources in the guide and take advice on your own situation.

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