§5902 Issuance and treatment of payment stablecoins

Summary

Only permitted payment stablecoin issuers may create payment stablecoins in the United States. Starting 3 years after July 18, 2025, it will be illegal for a digital asset service provider to sell or offer a payment stablecoin to someone in the United States unless that coin comes from a permitted issuer. A foreign issuer’s coin can only be offered in the United States if the issuer can and will follow U.S. lawful orders and any reciprocal arrangements under section 5916. The Treasury Secretary can write narrow safety rules that allow very small, limited uses or, in emergencies, short-term exceptions after telling key Congressional leaders. The Treasury must make rules to carry out these requirements and define terms. The law applies when a coin is offered or sold to a person located in the United States. Knowingly breaking the rule about who may issue a coin can bring fines up to $1,000,000 per violation, up to 5 years in prison, or both, and regulators may refer cases to the Attorney General. Coins not issued by permitted issuers cannot be treated as cash or cash equivalents for accounting, used as margin or collateral by major financial firms, or used as settlement assets for wholesale bank payments. The rule does not cover direct person-to-person transfers without an intermediary, transfers between accounts the same person owns offered by the same parent company, or transactions where an individual fully controls custody with their own software or hardware wallet. The Treasury still can block or limit U.S. dollar–linked stablecoin transactions under U.S. law.