Federal Reserve proposes stablecoin reserve rules

The Federal Reserve proposed rules for stablecoin issuers under its supervision, setting out requirements for reserves, capital, risk management and asset safekeeping. A related proposal covers how state member banks would seek approval to issue payment stablecoins through subsidiaries.

The reserve framework would require supervised issuers to back their tokens with permitted assets, including cash and short-term US government securities. The proposals also address operational controls and the treatment of assets held to meet redemption obligations.

These are proposed rules rather than an operating licence for every stablecoin business. Their scope is tied to institutions supervised by the Federal Reserve and to the statutory framework they implement, leaving other issuers and regulators subject to separate requirements.