The Federal Reserve has proposed a supervisory framework for dollar-backed stablecoins that would require covered issuers to hold qualifying reserves and maintain capital against credit and operational risks.
The proposal, announced Thursday, implements part of the GENIUS Act, the federal statute enacted last year to bring payment stablecoins within a national regulatory structure. It would apply to issuers supervised by the central bank and to banks that safeguard reserve assets or want to issue tokens of their own.
Full backing is the central premise. Issuers would have to support outstanding tokens with specified liquid assets, including short-term Treasury securities, rather than relying on the looser reserve practices that have unsettled crypto markets in the past. Capital requirements would sit alongside that reserve rule, addressing losses that can arise from custody failures, technology problems and other operating risks.
The Federal Reserve also proposes guidelines for banks holding reserves for unaffiliated issuers and a tailored application process for banks seeking authority to issue stablecoins. Those provisions matter because the law established a framework but left regulators to define much of its day-to-day perimeter.
The measure is not final. A 60-day public-comment period will begin after publication in the Federal Register, and the Board can revise the text before adopting binding rules.
