US Banks Get Green Light To Issue ‘Payment Stablecoins’ Under Revised CFTC Rules

• Under a no-action framework, the CFTC changed the definition of "payment stablecoins" so that national trust banks can issue tokens that futures brokers can use as margin collateral.
• The move fits with Washington's goal to make stablecoins a part of the formal market structure, making bank-issued stablecoins a part of U.S. payments and derivatives plumbing.
• The change comes at a time when banks want tighter controls on stablecoin issuers, while crypto lobbyists want to keep stablecoin yield and issuance from becoming bank-only.

On Friday, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) changed its definition of 'payment stablecoins' to make it possible for national trust banks to issue stablecoins.

The amendment allows national trust banks to issue stablecoins that futures brokers can use as collateral, effectively widening the range of tokenized assets allowed under U.S. market rules. 

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Market Participants Division released a statement that it reissued Staff Letter 25-40 to slightly tweak the definition of a “payment stablecoin,” making clear that national trust banks are permitted issuers under its no-action guidance.

The original letter, released on December 8, 2025, gave futures commission merchants the green light to accept certain non-security digital assets, including payment stablecoins, as customer margin collateral and to hold their own stablecoins in segregated customer accounts.

After the guidance was published, staff said they learned that some payment stablecoins that met the definition were being issued by national trust banks, which was not clearly stated in the original language. The division said that the omission was not intentional and that the new letter was sent out with new updates.

Michael S. Selig, the chairman of the CFTC, said that the change is based on the rules that were put in place during President Donald Trump's first term. At that time, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency started giving national trust banks the power to hold and issue stablecoins.“With the enactment of the GENIUS Act and the CFTC’s new eligible collateral framework, America is the global leader in payment stablecoin innovation,” said Selig.

The CFTC’s new update would now allow futures brokers to accept bank-issued stablecoins as margin collateral by explicitly acknowledging national trust banks as permitted issuers under its revised definition, which previously was not possible.

USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin issued by Circle (CRCL), was trading at $0.99 on Saturday. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around USDC remained in the 'bearish' zone, as chatter dropped from 'normal' to 'low' over the past day.

CLARITY Act Versus GENIUS Act

This comes at a time when Washington is battling to pass the CLARITY Act, with stablecoin reward as a key issue of contention between banking and the crypto lobby. Some within the crypto industry support the CLARITY Act as a means to legitimize the status of digital assets and prevent stablecoin activity, lending, and yield products from being limited to traditional bank-only structures. Banking groups, on the other hand, are not too keen on the approach as they want tighter rules on who can issue stablecoins and offer yield.

The GENIUS Act, on the other hand, leans toward integrating stablecoins and tokenized collateral into the current financial system, which would give regulated banks and formal institutions more power. That tension is now clashing with real changes in policy, as national trust banks can issue stablecoins now.

Read also: Bitcoin’s Reclaims $70,000, But Analysts Aren’t Too Sure Of A Relief-Rally

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