CoinFubi

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission 对其关于 stablecoin 持有的指南作出重大调整。该机构网站上一个 frequently-asked-questions 页面新增的几行，可能会在美国 broker-dealers 的资本计算中为稳定币的使用打开空间。这是在 SEC 的 “Broker Dealer Financial Responsibilities” FAQ 中以微小增补形式出现的深刻变动。对于一个自 Crypto Task Force 在特朗普政府任内开始工作以来，通过非正式指导、行业函件和员工声明持续调整其加密资产策略的监管机构而言，这一举动颇具标志性。

In this case, a new question No. 5 was added about what kind of “haircut” a firm should take on its holdings of stablecoins — the dollar-tied tokens such as Circle’s USDC and Tether’s USDT. The answer was 2%, meaning that instead of the previous understanding that such assets were not considered measurable against a broker-dealer’s capital tally (100% haircut), the firms will be able to count 98% of those holdings. While this guidance does not create new rules, it helps reduce uncertainty for firms seeking to operate compliantly under current securities laws, said Cody Carbone, CEO of the Digital Chamber. That means stablecoins are now treated like money market funds on a firm’s balance sheet, Tonya Evans, a former professor who now runs a crypto education business and is on the board of directors at Digital Currency Group, wrote in a post on social media site X.

直到今天，部分 broker-dealers 在资本计算中将 stablecoin 持有抵消为零。持有它们被视为金融惩罚。这已经成为过去。此前，更严格的 SEC 限制意味着那些在 SEC 注册以处理客户证券交易并代表自己进行证券交易的公司，难以托管代币化证券或充当交易的中介。现在，遵循这一监管机构的指引的公司将更容易提供流动性、帮助清算并推动代币化金融的发展。

“Everywhere from Robinhood to Goldman Sachs run on these calculations,” Larry Florio, deputy general counsel at Ethena Labs, wrote in an explainer posted on LinkedIn. Stablecoins are now working capital, he said. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce runs the agency’s task force and issued a statement on the change, contending that using stablecoins “will make it feasible for broker-dealers to engage in a broader range of business activities relating to tokenized securities and other crypto assets.” And she said she wants to consider how the existing SEC rules “could be amended to account for payment stablecoins.”

That’s the drawback of informal staff policies — they’re as easy to reverse as they were to issue, and they don’t carry the weight (and legal protections) of a rule. The SEC has been working on some crypto rules in recent months, but they haven’t yet been produced, and the process usually takes several months — sometimes years. Even a formal rule can still be reversed by a new leadership at the agency, which is why crypto advocates are pushing for more legislation from Congress that would set the government’s digital assets approach into law, such as last year’s Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act.