Friday, 25 September 2026
25 Sept · Money · In brief
Money · Friday, 25 September 2026
Money, in brief
1 story · 1 source
Swipe up for the day in brief ↑Scroll down for the day in brief ↓
The US central bank wrote its rules for digital dollars. Holders may not be paid interest, even through a partner.
Swipe up for the story ↑Scroll down for the story ↓
The US Federal Reserve, the country's central bank, proposed rules on 24 September for stablecoins issued by companies it oversees.
Most of it is in coins tied to the US dollar, the Fed's own analysis says.
Who is involved
The US Federal Reserve
the US central bank; it oversees some banks and proposed these rules on 24 September
Who is involved
Banks the Fed oversees
state-chartered banks that belong to the Federal Reserve system; the law lets them issue coins through a company they own, with the Fed's approval
Why it matters
The next step is the 60-day comment period, and the question to watch is whether the final rule keeps counting a partner's payment as the issuer's own.
How it works
Why a ban on paying interest has to name the partners too
How it works
If a law stops one company paying you, the company can pay a partner instead, and the partner can pay you, so the rule has to count the partner.
How it works · step 1 of 6
The law bans an issuer paying interest to people who hold its coin
How it works · step 2 of 6
The issuer's reserves sit in things like short-term US government debt
How it works · step 3 of 6
The issuer could pay a partner, such as a company whose brand is on the coin
How it works · step 4 of 6
The partner could then pay the holder, and the ban would be empty
How it works · step 5 of 6
So the Fed counts a payment through a partner as the issuer's own
How it works · step 6 of 6
The issuer has to prove in writing that a deal is not a way round the ban
The twist
A ban on one company paying you does little on its own.
The twist
The payment can go to a partner first, so the rule has to count the partner as the same payer.
The picture
Every coin must have at least a dollar behind it, and the holder may not be paid anything for holding it, directly or through a partner.
The catch
A rule can only name the kinds of partner its writers can picture, and the Fed itself expects the deals to be many and to keep changing.
The whole
A person who bought a digital dollar on a trading platform sees the platform and the balance.
The whole
The issuer, the US government debt behind the coin and any deal between the issuer and its partners are out of sight, and those are what this rule is written about.
What's really going on
The US Federal Reserve has written its first draft of how the digital dollars it oversees must work.
What's really going on
Its sharpest choice is to treat interest passed to a holder through a partner company as interest paid by the issuer, which the 2025 GENIUS Act bans.
Who gains
People who hold a dollar stablecoin
An issuer under these rules must hold at least a dollar for each coin, publish its reserves every month and pay out within two business days.
Who gains
Stablecoin issuers
Their reserves may sit in short-term US government debt, which pays interest, and none of it may be passed on to holders for simply holding the coin.
Who gains
Firms that compete with an issuer's other products
No issuer may make a customer buy a second paid product from it, or promise to avoid a rival, to get the coin. The Fed has proposed no exceptions.
Who pays
Holders who wanted a return on their coins
They may not be paid interest or any reward for holding, from the issuer or, under the proposed presumption, from its partners.
Who pays
Firms that offer interest on stablecoins as a service
A deal with an issuer that funds such payments would be presumed to break the ban unless the issuer proves otherwise.
Who pays
Banks that set up an issuing company
They must also hold money of their own against things going wrong: 2% of the coins they have out, for issuers up to $20bn, on top of the full reserves.
Nobody knows yet
Which companies will actually issue coins under these rules.
The Fed says none of the state member banks it oversees issues a stablecoin today, so the rules are written ahead of any issuer.
Nobody knows yet
Which partner deals the interest ban will catch.
The presumption covers a company's affiliates and firms that offer interest on coins as a service, and the Fed itself expects the deals to be many and to keep changing. An issuer can also rebut it in writing.
Nobody knows yet
Whether a holder who bought a coin through an app can ask the issuer directly for dollars.
The Fed says many issuers limit direct dealings with ordinary holders, and it has asked whether it should require them to pay any holder who has passed identity checks.
Nobody knows yet
How the two-day payout holds up when many holders ask at once.
The Fed has asked whether issuers should get pre-approved access to short-term borrowing in a market panic, which it has not yet decided.
Nobody knows yet
When the final rules arrive.
Comments close 60 days after the notice is officially published, and the law takes effect by January 2027 at the latest. No final date has been set.
The short version
That's the story in short.
The whole story has 12 more parts.
or swipe up for the end of the dayor scroll on for the end of the day ↓
The whole story, in 12 parts ↓
Part 1 of 12 · Who else is involved
Circle
the company behind USDC, a dollar stablecoin; in 2023 about $3.3bn of its reserves were stuck in a bank that failed
Part 1 of 12 · Who else is involved
The OCC, the FDIC and the NCUA
the other US bank and credit union regulators; each has already proposed its own version of these rules
Part 2 of 12 · How it unfolded
March 2023
Circle's USDC slips below one dollar after $3.3bn of its reserves are caught in the failure of Silicon Valley Bank
18 Aug 2026
The US Treasury publishes its own rules notice under the law
Part 2 of 12 · How it unfolded
18 Aug 2026
The US Treasury publishes its own rules notice under the law
By Jan 2027
The law takes effect 18 months after it passed, or 120 days after final rules, whichever comes first
Part 3 of 12
A stablecoin is a digital token that promises to be worth exactly one US dollar and can be swapped back for one.
Part 4 of 12
The rules carry out the GENIUS Act, a US law passed in July 2025 that set up the first national rulebook for these coins.
Part 5 of 12
An issuer must hold at least one dollar of safe assets, such as cash or short-term US government debt, for every coin it has sold.
Part 6 of 12
It must publish what those reserves are every month, by noon on the last day of the month.
Part 7 of 12
A holder who asks for dollars back must be paid within two business days at the latest.
Part 8 of 12
The issuer may not pay a holder any interest or other reward just for holding the coin, in cash, tokens or anything else.
Part 9 of 12
The Fed says issuers could try to route that payment through another company, so a payment through a partner is presumed to break the ban.
Part 10 of 12
No issuer, whoever oversees it, may make a customer buy a second paid product, or promise not to use a rival, as a condition of getting the coin.
Part 11 of 12
A state-licensed issuer that grows past $10bn in coins must move under a national regulator within 360 days, or stop issuing new ones.
Part 12 of 12
None of the state member banks the Fed oversees issues a stablecoin today, the Fed says, so most of these rules are written for issuers that do not exist yet.
1 source
The US central bank wrote its rules for digital dollars. Holders may not be paid interest, even through a partner.
The full story
The US central bank wrote its rules for digital dollars. Holders may not be paid interest, even through a partner.
The US Federal Reserve, the country's central bank, proposed rules on 24 September for stablecoins issued by companies it oversees.
A stablecoin is a digital token that promises to be worth exactly one US dollar and can be swapped back for one.
The rules carry out the GENIUS Act, a US law passed in July 2025 that set up the first national rulebook for these coins.
An issuer must hold at least one dollar of safe assets, such as cash or short-term US government debt, for every coin it has sold.
It must publish what those reserves are every month, by noon on the last day of the month.
A holder who asks for dollars back must be paid within two business days at the latest.
The issuer may not pay a holder any interest or other reward just for holding the coin, in cash, tokens or anything else.
The Fed says issuers could try to route that payment through another company, so a payment through a partner is presumed to break the ban.
No issuer, whoever oversees it, may make a customer buy a second paid product, or promise not to use a rival, as a condition of getting the coin.
A state-licensed issuer that grows past $10bn in coins must move under a national regulator within 360 days, or stop issuing new ones.
None of the state member banks the Fed oversees issues a stablecoin today, the Fed says, so most of these rules are written for issuers that do not exist yet.
Why it matters. The next step is the 60-day comment period, and the question to watch is whether the final rule keeps counting a partner's payment as the issuer's own.
That's the whole Money day.
1 story, 1 sources.