Treasury Proposes Stablecoin Rule, Placing Burden on Platforms

The US Treasury has published a new proposed rule for stablecoin issuers and platforms selling to U.S. persons, as part of the GENIUS Act. The rule focuses on compliance obligations for exchanges, wallets, and brokers, rather than licensing frameworks for issuers.

Proposed §1523.3 states that digital asset service providers may not offer or sell a payment stablecoin to a U.S. person unless the token was issued by a permitted issuer. This distributor obligation places the burden on platforms to verify the issuer's status before selling to U.S. persons.

The Treasury has defined 'located in the United States' as individuals physically present in the country, and entities incorporated in a U.S. state or with a principal place of business here. The NPRM contains 43 numbered questions soliciting public comment on how these definitions and obligations should be refined.