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 public comment for 60 days.
The FDIC's role is to regulate US depository institutions that issue stablecoins from their subsidiaries, and the proposal sets out capital, liquidity, and custody standards for these firms. However, the details will not be finalized until the agency has reviewed the comments and written the final language.
As expected, stablecoins will not be eligible for deposit insurance, and issuers will not be able to offer interest or yields simply for holding or using a payment stablecoin. The proposal also suggests that issuers will need to maintain capital to manage the risk of the business, as well as an operational backstop.
The agency has also addressed the applicability of pass-through insurance to deposits held as reserves backing payment stablecoins. While the regulators work to implement the GENIUS Act, some of its details are potentially being overhauled by the work on the Senate's Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. The proposal is a significant step towards establishing federal rules for stablecoin issuers in the US.