The Federal Reserve proposed rules for stablecoin issuers that would require issuers to back stablecoins with certain “high-quality, liquid assets” such as Treasury bills and would create an application process for banks wanting to issue stablecoins. The proposal matters because it is a required step under the Genius Act, which directs the central bank and other federal financial regulators to establish a comprehensive federal regulatory framework for stablecoins. Fed Gov. Michael Barr framed the goal in a statement: the framework “needs to provide strong guardrails and consumer protections so that new instruments can foster payments improvements that benefit households and businesses.”
The proposed rules would impose capital requirements on issuers to address credit and operational risks, as well as risk management standards. They would also create rules for Federal Reserve-supervised firms that safekeep the assets that back stablecoins, and would create a process governing appeals, hearings, and final determinations for banks applying to issue stablecoins. Barr tied the mechanics to redemption reliability, saying stablecoins “will only be stable if they can be reliably and promptly redeemed at par in a range of conditions,” including during market stress and “during episodes of strain on the individual issuer or its related entities.”
The evidence comes from a single Payments Dive report published September 28, 2026, which was read in full. The report notes that the Genius Act required federal regulators and the Treasury Department to establish regulations by July, meaning the Federal Reserve is behind in doing so. Other agencies have moved earlier: the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the National Credit Union Administration proposed their stablecoin rules in February, while the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Treasury proposed rules in April and August, respectively. No agencies have finalized stablecoin rules as of the report.
For the market, the proposal adds another layer to an emerging federal framework, but it does not by itself finalize requirements. The Fed’s stablecoin proposal will be open for 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register, leaving room for comment and potential revision. Because no agency has finalized rules, issuers and banks still face regulatory uncertainty about the exact capital, liquidity, and safekeeping standards that will ultimately apply.
A key limitation is that the dossier contains only one secondary source and does not include the full proposed rule text, specific capital ratios, definitions of “high-quality, liquid assets,” or details on how the application process would interact with state-level stablecoin regimes. What to watch is whether the Fed’s proposal converges with the OCC, NCUA, FDIC, and Treasury proposals, and whether final rules arrive after the 60-day comment window or face further delay.