WASHINGTON, Feb. 19, 2026 — Staff of the Division of Trading and Markets at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a frequently asked question addressing the treatment of payment stablecoins under the broker-dealer net capital rule, Exchange Act Rule 15c3-1, according to a Feb. 19 statement by Hester M. Peirce.
The FAQ provides that staff would not object if a broker-dealer applied a 2% haircut to proprietary positions in a payment stablecoin when calculating net capital under Rule 15c3-1, Peirce wrote.
2% haircut under Exchange Act Rule 15c3-1
Peirce said Rule 15c3-1 does not explicitly address payment stablecoins and noted that some broker-dealers, “out of an abundance of caution,” have proposed applying a 100% haircut to payment stablecoins held in inventory. In her statement, she wrote that a 100% haircut would be “unnecessarily punitive,” citing the reserve assets that generally back payment stablecoins, including U.S. dollars, short-term U.S. Treasury securities, and similar instruments.
She also stated that a 2% haircut aligns with the haircut imposed on registered investment companies that are money market funds, which hold similar instruments. Peirce further noted that, following the effective date of the GENIUS Act, reserve requirements for permitted payment stablecoin issuers will be more limiting than the “eligible securities” requirements that apply to registered government money market funds.
Definition of “Payment Stablecoin”
According to Peirce’s statement, the FAQ defines “payment stablecoin” differently depending on whether the GENIUS Act is in effect. Prior to the Act’s effective date, the term refers to a U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoin issued by a state-regulated money transmitter, state-regulated trust company, or national trust bank, that maintains reserve assets meeting the requirements of 12 U.S.C. § 5903(a)(1)(A), publicly discloses its redemption policy, and publishes a monthly attestation report prepared by a registered public accounting firm applying applicable attestation standards regarding reserve composition and fair value coverage.
Following the effective date of the GENIUS Act, the term aligns with the statutory definition of “payment stablecoin” and applies to stablecoins issued by a permitted payment stablecoin issuer or a foreign payment stablecoin issuer that complies with the Act’s applicable requirements.
Consideration of possible rule amendments
Peirce wrote that, at the Commission level, she would like to consider how Rule 15c3-1 could be amended to account for payment stablecoins. She said she welcomes input from market participants on that question and on other aspects of the Commission’s rules they believe should be modified to address the use of payment stablecoins by SEC-registered entities.
The statement references staff guidance in the form of an FAQ and does not constitute a rule proposal.
