SEC staff states that described reserve-backed payment stablecoins are not securities

What changed

Corporation Finance staff stated that offers and sales of stablecoins meeting the statement’s reserve, redemption, marketing, and non-yield characteristics do not involve securities. The statement is nonbinding and does not cover algorithmic, yield-bearing, under-reserved, or differently marketed products.

Who it affects

• Advisers using stablecoins in client cash, settlement, or DeFi workflows
• Stablecoin issuers, custodians, platforms, and payment providers

What is still open

• Treatment of stablecoins outside the described facts
• Interaction with the later-enacted GENIUS Act and implementing rules

What it means for an advisor

• Create product-level controls for reserve quality, redemption, issuer, jurisdiction, and yield features
• Avoid applying the statement categorically to every asset called a stablecoin

Previous interpretation

SEC staff had not supplied this current fact pattern for distinguishing described payment stablecoins from securities.