The U.S. Treasury Department published a proposed rule on August 18 to regulate the issuance and distribution of payment stablecoins. The proposal aims to clarify when an issuance occurs and how foreign-issued stablecoins can legally reach U.S. customers.
During the commentary period, which ended on October 19, various industry players submitted feedback. ANB Bank suggested that entities exercising meaningful control over reserve management, governance, or economic benefits should be classified as issuers.
Chainalysis proposed that the issuance event should be defined by the first transfer out of an issuer-controlled address, as this creates an observable blockchain record. Ripple emphasized that issuer status must be tied to both redemption obligations and representations of stable value.
Mastercard expressed support for a reasonable-belief framework, allowing foreign issuers to operate outside U.S. rules if they do not target U.S. persons and maintain controls. Conversely, the NYDFS criticized the proposal as overly permissive regarding secondary sales.
Coinbase requested clarification that digital asset service providers may use non-qualifying foreign stablecoins as intermediate assets in cross-border payments, provided that U.S. customers do not hold or acquire rights to the assets.
