Overview

• The OCC, Federal Reserve and FDIC are drafting implementing rules to detail reserve, audit and compliance standards that will phase in over months to years
• Major banks like Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase, alongside fintechs such as Fiserv and platforms like Amazon and Walmart, are preparing or registering to launch dollar-backed stablecoins
• Issuers must satisfy strict prudential requirements—including 1:1 backing in cash or short-term Treasuries, monthly audited disclosures and full AML/KYC compliance—while being barred from paying yield to holders
• Market participants face operational and technical challenges over blockchain selection, capital treatment of on-balance-sheet tokens and the absence of interoperability standards that could fragment payment networks
• Analysts and consumer advocates point to gaps in protections—from no FDIC-style insurance to bankruptcy ‘super-priority’ complications—and warn that concentrated Treasury holdings may pose systemic liquidity risks