The Federal Reserve on Thursday unveiled proposed rules that would require payment stablecoin issuers under its supervision to fully back their tokens with permissible assets such as short-term Treasury bills, alongside standardized capital requirements, risk-management standards and rules for the safekeeping of reserves.

A second proposal would create a tailored application process for Board-supervised banks seeking to issue stablecoins, complete with procedures for appeals and hearings. The comment period for both proposals closes 60 days after they are published in the Federal Register. As proposals, the measures are not yet final, and the feedback gathered during the comment window could shape how they look when finalized.

With the move, the central bank is working to set the ground rules for the stablecoin issuers it oversees, proposing that they fully back their tokens with safe, liquid assets and hold capital against the risks of their operations. The Fed opened the two proposals for public comment as it builds out the regulatory framework required under the GENIUS Act, the stablecoin law President Donald Trump signed in July 2025.

The first proposal would require Board-supervised payment stablecoin issuers to hold reserves entirely in permissible assets, such as short-term Treasury bills and other high-quality, liquid holdings. It would also establish standardized capital requirements to address credit and operational risks, set risk-management standards, and lay out rules for the firms that safekeep the assets backing the tokens.

The second proposal would create a tailored application process for Board-supervised banks seeking to issue payment stablecoins. Banks would be required to submit a business plan and financial information, and the framework would establish procedures for appeals, hearings and final decisions.

Stablecoins are blockchain-based tokens designed to hold a steady value by pegging to a reference asset, most commonly the U.S. dollar. Issuers back the tokens with reserves so that each token can be redeemed at face value. The instruments have become a core piece of crypto's plumbing, used to move money between exchanges, settle trades, send cross-border payments, and park funds without converting back into traditional currency.

The Fed's proposals add its piece to a multi-agency rollout of the GENIUS Act, which set the first federal framework for dollar-pegged tokens. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has been racing to finalize its own stablecoin rules by November, ahead of a January statutory deadline while the Treasury Department has separately proposed rules that would bar platforms from selling noncompliant stablecoins to U.S. customers. From here, the immediate markers are the Federal Register publication that opens the Fed's comment window and how its proposals evolve alongside the other agencies' rulebooks.

The rulemaking arrives as stablecoins move deeper into the financial mainstream, with the Trump administration increasingly framing dollar-pegged tokens as a tool to extend the dollar's global dominance. Full-reserve backing and bank-grade oversight are central to that pitch, aimed at ensuring the tokens hold their peg and can be redeemed at face value.

Source: Decrypt