Stablecoins Just Became 'Real Money' for Wall Street

Wall Street just got a $100 billion gift, delivered in the form of a few quiet lines added to an SEC FAQ page.

The Securities and Exchange Commission now allows broker-dealers to treat their stablecoin holdings as regulatory capital—with just a 2% haircut. That means $1 billion in USDC or USDT now counts as $980 million toward capital requirements, instead of the previous $0.

From Penalty to Profit

Until this week, holding stablecoins was essentially a financial penalty for regulated firms. "That's over," wrote Tonya Evans, a Digital Currency Group board member, celebrating the shift on social media.

The change puts stablecoins on equal footing with money market funds in balance sheet calculations. "Everywhere from Robinhood to Goldman Sachs run on these calculations," explained Larry Florio, deputy general counsel at Ethena Labs.

For context: broker-dealers are the backbone of securities trading, handling customer transactions while also trading for their own accounts. They need substantial capital reserves to operate, and every dollar counts in those calculations.

The Ripple Effect

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This seemingly technical adjustment unlocks significant business opportunities. Broker-dealers can now more easily:

• Custody tokenized securities
• Provide liquidity for digital asset trading
• Facilitate settlement of crypto transactions
• Bridge traditional and digital finance

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, who runs the agency's crypto task force, said the change "will make it feasible for broker-dealers to engage in a broader range of business activities relating to tokenized securities and other crypto assets."

The Informal Policy Trap

But here's the catch: this guidance came through an FAQ update, not formal rulemaking. As Cody Carbone, CEO of the Digital Chamber, noted, "While this guidance does not create new rules, it helps reduce uncertainty for firms seeking to operate compliantly."

That's both the beauty and the danger of informal policy shifts. They're quick to implement but equally quick to reverse. The SEC has been making crypto policy through correspondence, staff statements, and guidance documents since its Crypto Task Force began work under the Trump administration.

The Bigger Picture

This move reflects a broader shift in how regulators view stablecoins—not as risky crypto assets, but as dollar-equivalent instruments. It's a practical acknowledgment that $150 billion in stablecoins aren't going away and might as well be properly integrated into the financial system.

Yet crypto advocates continue pushing for congressional legislation like last year's GENIUS Act, which would cement digital asset approaches into law rather than leaving them vulnerable to regulatory whiplash.