NEW YORK, September 28, 2026 – Central bankers in Washington finally laid their cards on the table.
The Federal Reserve introduced two sets of proposed rules on September 24 aimed at incorporating payments through stablecoins into the purview of federal supervision. Introduced with the legislative cover of the recent “GENIUS Act,” these rules, as explained by a Federal Reserve press release, clearly show regulators’ new attitude towards issuing digital dollars. The key requirement of these regulations is putting actual cash behind each token.
According to the first proposed framework developed by the Federal Reserve, any supervised stablecoin entity is required to fully back the token through very safe, very liquid reserve assets like short-term U.S. Treasury bills and overnight deposits with the bank. The capital and risk management requirements are integrated into the framework directly. It has been reported that the central bank has created a special way for state member banks to apply for issuing or safeguarding tokens.
“Stablecoins will only be stable if they can be reliably and promptly redeemed at par in a range of conditions,” Fed Governor Michael Barr emphasized in an accompanying statement. He noted that stress testing must account for systemic market turbulence as well as firm-specific strains.
And this matters because crypto markets have historically relied on informal reserve backing that gave regulators headaches during past market runs.
They have failed to meet their first deadline for mid-summer in the GENIUS Act, but this fresh effort in September should put the wheels of regulation back in motion. The central bank is providing 60 days for public comments before making any decision.
The dilemma, however, is that while Wall Street firms and crypto firms have entirely different perspectives on the proposed regulations, banking groups view them as a definite pathway to issuing their dollar-backed tokens with full regulatory clarity, whereas existing token issuers are wary of the requirement for reserve assets, given fluctuating Treasury rates.
Several issues have been expressed by Governor Barr on compliance oversight. The governor was apprehensive about the statutory language, which would preclude any supervisory or enforcement action in the event of deficiencies in money laundering unless the deficiency is labeled as “significant or systemic.”
It’s not clear whether the final language will loosen the asset restriction before statutory enforcement begins early next year. One thing is for sure: the era of a hands-off approach to digital currency oversight in Washington has come to an end.
