Treasury Outlines New Rules for Stablecoins and Exchanges

The U.S. Treasury Department released a proposal this week to clarify how stablecoins are issued and traded within the country. Starting January 18, 2027, issuers must hold specific licenses to operate in the U.S. market. Foreign issuers may only participate if they come from countries with comparable regulatory standards and register with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. By July 2028, these rules will extend to exchanges, preventing them from selling tokens that do not meet these federal requirements.

Exchanges face a significant burden under the new plan. They must conduct due diligence on foreign issuers to ensure compliance with the law. Platforms are prohibited from listing tokens from issuers that violate U.S. orders. Treasury officials noted that platforms must verify these issuers carefully, meaning they cannot simply take an issuer at their word if there is reason to doubt their compliance. Penalties for participating in unlawful issuance are severe, carrying potential fines of up to 1 million dollars or prison time for knowing violations.

Rather than applying existing securities laws, the Treasury is proposing a conduct based test for offshore issuers. This requires companies outside the U.S. to ensure their users are based abroad and to avoid marketing their products to Americans. The proposal aims to protect the U.S. dollar while encouraging financial innovation.

Market participants now have 60 days to submit feedback on these 87 questions posed by the Treasury. Industry observers are watching to see how these rules might reshape the stablecoin sector. The Treasury emphasized that these steps are intended to provide clear expectations for businesses operating in the digital asset space.