Stablecoin Redemptions in Doubt: US Treasury and FASB Weigh In

The stablecoin industry is facing scrutiny from two major regulatory bodies in the US. On August 18, 2026, the US Treasury and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) both released documents that posed a crucial question: can you get your cash back if you hold a stablecoin?

A dollar-backed stablecoin is supposed to be worth $1, but 'worth' doesn't necessarily mean it's redeemable for $1. The issuer may not be obligated to hand over the equivalent amount of cash if you ask for it. This distinction between market price and contractual right is what both documents are trying to pin down.

The US Treasury's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NRPM) implements Section 3 of the GENIUS Act, which created a legal framework for stablecoin issuance in the US. The NRPM proposes new rules for permitted issuers, who must be regulated under federal or state supervision, and sets a comment deadline of October 19, 2026.

The FASB exposure draft amends ASC Topic 230, proposing that companies classify stablecoins as cash equivalents if they meet certain criteria: the holder has an on-demand contractual right to redeem with the issuer for a known amount of cash, and the issuer holds at least 1:1 reserves in segregated accounts of short-term, highly liquid assets.

These documents are not final, but together they sketch out what the US regulatory and accounting framework for stablecoins is likely to look like. The Treasury NPRM focuses on distributors, including exchanges and wallets, which will be prohibited from offering or selling unlicensed stablecoins to US customers unless they have completed the permitted-issuer process.