The US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has formally proposed its approach to regulating stablecoin issuers, as required by the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act. The proposal, which aligns with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's proposal in February, will be open for a 60-day public comment period.
The FDIC's role is to regulate US depository institutions that issue stablecoins from their subsidiaries, and the proposal includes capital, liquidity, and custody standards for these firms. However, the details will not be finalized until the agency reviews input and writes the final language.
The proposal also clarifies that stablecoins will not be eligible for deposit insurance, and issuers will not be able to offer interest or yields for simply holding or using a payment stablecoin. The FDIC's proposal suggests that issuers will need to maintain capital to manage business risks, as well as an operational backstop based on previous year's operating expenses. While regulators work to implement the GENIUS Act, some details are being potentially overhauled by the Senate's Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which aims to resolve the debate over yield-bearing stablecoin holdings.