U.S. regulators implement new stablecoin oversight rules

U.S. financial regulators are implementing new frameworks for stablecoin oversight under the GENIUS Act. The Treasury Department has issued an interim final rule establishing procedures for states to seek federal approval to supervise smaller stablecoin issuers. Under this rule, states with issuers holding no more than $10 billion in outstanding tokens may opt for state regulation if their regime is deemed substantially similar to the federal framework by the Stablecoin Certification Review Committee.

Simultaneously, the Federal Reserve has proposed rules requiring Board-supervised payment stablecoin issuers to maintain reserves that fully back their tokens. These reserves must consist of permitted assets, such as short-term U.S. Treasury bills and other high-quality liquid assets, to ensure sufficient liquidity for customer redemptions. The proposal also introduces standardized capital requirements to mitigate credit and operational risks, including cybersecurity incidents, technology failures, and fraud.