Federal Reserve Proposes Reserve and Capital Rules for Stablecoin Issuers Under the GENIUS Act

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• The Federal Reserve Board proposed two rules for payment stablecoin issuers it supervises under the GENIUS Act
• One proposal requires full backing with high-quality liquid assets, including short-term Treasury bills, plus standardized capital and risk-management requirements
• The second proposal creates a tailored application process for issuers, and both proposals carry a 60-day public comment period after Federal Register publication

The Federal Reserve Board proposed two regulatory frameworks for payment stablecoin issuers it supervises under the GENIUS Act, according to its announcement on September 24, 2026. The first proposal sets reserve and capital requirements, mandating that Board-supervised stablecoin issuers back their tokens fully with high-quality liquid assets, including short-term Treasury bills, so that every issued stablecoin is matched by safe, readily convertible reserves.

That same proposal also establishes standardized capital requirements meant to address credit and operational risk at issuers, alongside risk-management standards covering how issuers must run their operations day to day. It introduces safekeeping rules governing how and where backing assets must be held, and clarifies which stablecoin-related activities Board-supervised banks are permitted to engage in, closing ambiguity that had left some banks uncertain about how directly they could participate in stablecoin issuance.

The second proposal focuses on process rather than prudential standards: it creates a tailored application framework for entities seeking to become Board-supervised payment stablecoin issuers, requiring applicants to submit business plans and detailed financial information. It also establishes formal procedures for appeals and hearings, giving applicants a defined path to contest an adverse determination rather than leaving the process to case-by-case discretion.

Both proposals carry a 60-day public comment period beginning once they are published in the Federal Register, giving banks, stablecoin issuers, and other interested parties a formal window to weigh in on the reserve composition requirements, capital thresholds, and application procedures before the rules are finalized. The Fed’s announcement noted that a Board governor issued a separate statement alongside the proposals, underscoring that this is an initial rulemaking step rather than a final rule already in effect.

The proposals mark one of the first concrete steps the Fed has taken to implement the GENIUS Act’s stablecoin framework at the federal banking level, following the law’s passage and months of anticipation from banks and stablecoin issuers about exactly how reserve, capital, and application requirements would be structured. Because the rules remain in the comment period rather than final form, the specific reserve and capital thresholds could still change before Board-supervised issuers are required to comply with them.