Back to Markets
Crypto● Neutral
U.S. Regulators Demand Stablecoin Issuers Verify All Customers
The 130-page proposed rule forces Tether, Circle to build bank-grade ID checks. Fed's Barr warns secondary market gap remains, leaving peer-to-peer stablecoin transfers outside the framework.
Continue with
Six U.S. financial agencies proposed a rule Thursday that forces stablecoin issuers to identify their customers the same way banks do. The Federal Reserve, Treasury, the OCC, the FDIC, the NCUA and FinCEN jointly released the draft, which implements customer‑identification requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act for firms managing dollar‑pegged tokens.
The proposal answers last year's GENIUS Act, the first federal law placing stablecoin issuers inside the U.S. regulatory perimeter. A stablecoin issuer that qualifies as a "permitted payment stablecoin issuer" must verify anyone opening an account and keep records of that identity. The issuer must also screen customers against government terrorist lists. The agencies opened a 60‑day public comment period.
Fed Governor Michael Barr, the central bank's former supervisory chief, voted against the rule. He said the framework does not go far enough on secondary market transactions – the peer‑to‑peer transfers that happen off the issuer's platform. In a statement he called the gap a hole for bad actors.
Barr said he would watch whether the final rule extends identification checks to secondary market trading. The 130‑page document itself asks: "Should any CIP requirement be extended to secondary market activity? If yes, in what circumstances?"