WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2026 — The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Market Participants Division issued Staff Letter No. 26-05, a no-action position stating that staff will not recommend enforcement action regarding futures commission merchants that accept certain non-security digital assets, including qualifying payment stablecoins, as customer margin collateral and take those assets into account for undermargined determinations and segregation calculations, or deposit the FCM’s own payment stablecoins as residual interest, subject to specified conditions.
The letter re-issues and updates prior Staff Letter No. 25-40 and clarifies that a national trust bank may qualify as a permitted issuer of a payment stablecoin for purposes of the staff’s position.
Scope of the position
Under the no-action relief, staff will not recommend enforcement action against FCMs that take into account the value of digital assets accepted as eligible collateral by the relevant clearing organization or board of trade, including where applicable foreign clearing organizations, when calculating undermargined amounts and segregation requirements, subject to the conditions described in the letter.
Payment stablecoins
The position also addresses the treatment of payment stablecoins deposited by an FCM as residual interest in customer segregated accounts where the stablecoins satisfy the criteria outlined by the staff.
Supervisory status
The staff position does not constitute a rule, regulation, or Commission interpretation and may be modified or withdrawn at any time.
