Title 12Banks and BankingRelease 119-73

§5909 Custody of payment stablecoin reserve and collateral

Title 12 › Chapter CHAPTER 56— - REGULATION OF PAYMENT STABLECOINS › § 5909

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Only people who are supervised by a federal or certain state banking regulator may run custodial or safekeeping services for payment stablecoin reserves, the stablecoins used as collateral, or the private keys that issue allowed payment stablecoins. They must follow rules to treat and protect customer assets, unless they already meet similar rules from a federal stablecoin regulator, the SEC, or the CFTC. They must treat a customer’s stablecoins, cash, private keys, and other property as the customer’s property, not the custodian’s, and take steps to keep those assets safe from the custodian’s creditors. Custodians must keep clear, separate records for each issuer’s or customer’s assets and generally not mix them with their own. For convenience, assets can be pooled in omnibus accounts at banks or trust companies, and the needed share can be withdrawn to settle transactions or pay fees. Regulators may allow other limited types of pooling or holding cash on deposit. A customer’s claim to their stablecoins has priority over most other claims against the custodian unless the customer agrees otherwise. Custodians must give their federal stablecoin regulator information about how they run their business and protect assets. Companies that only sell hardware or software so customers hold their own keys are not covered.

Full Legal Text

Title 12, §5909

Banks and Banking — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)A person may only engage in the business of providing custodial or safekeeping services for the payment stablecoin reserve, the payment stablecoins used as collateral, or the private keys used to issue permitted payment stablecoins if the person—
(1)is subject to—
(A)supervision or regulation by a primary Federal payment stablecoin regulator or a primary financial regulatory agency described under subparagraph (B) or (C) of section 5301(12) of this title; or
(B)supervision by a State bank supervisor, as defined under section 1813 of this title, or a State credit union supervisor, as defined under section 6003 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (31 U.S.C. 5311 note), and such State bank supervisor or State credit union supervisor makes available to the Board such information as the Board determines necessary and relevant to the categories of information under subsection (d); and
(2)complies with the requirements under subsection (b), unless such person holds such property in accordance with similar requirements as required by a primary Federal payment stablecoin regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
(b)A person described in subsection (a) shall, with respect to other property described in that subsection—
(1)treat and deal with the payment stablecoins, private keys, cash, and other property of a person for whom or on whose behalf the person described in that subsection receives, acquires, or holds payment stablecoins, private keys, cash, and other property (hereinafter referred to in this section as the “customer”) as belonging to such customer and not as the property of such person; and
(2)take such steps as are appropriate to protect the payment stablecoins, private keys, cash, and other property of a customer from the claims of creditors of the person.
(c)(1)Payment stablecoin reserves, payment stablecoins, cash, and other property of a permitted payment stablecoin issuer or customer shall be separately accounted for by a person described in subsection (a) and shall be segregated from and not be commingled with the assets of the person.
(2)Notwithstanding paragraph (1) or subsection (b)—
(A)the payment stablecoin reserves, payment stablecoins, cash, and other property of a permitted payment stablecoin issuer or customer may, for convenience, be commingled and deposited in an omnibus account holding the payment stablecoin reserves, payment stablecoins, cash, and other property of more than 1 permitted payment stablecoin issuer or customer at a State chartered depository institution, an insured depository institution, national bank, or trust company, and any payment stablecoin reserves in the form of cash held in the form of a deposit liability at a depository institution shall not be subject to any requirement relating to the separation of such cash from the property of the applicable depository institution;
(B)such share of the payment stablecoin reserves, payment stablecoins, cash, and other property of the permitted payment stablecoin issuer or customer that shall be necessary to transfer, adjust, or settle a transaction or transfer of assets may be withdrawn and applied to such purposes, including the payment of commissions, taxes, storage, and other charges lawfully accruing in connection with the provision of services by a person described in subsection (a);
(C)in accordance with such terms and conditions as a primary Federal payment stablecoin regulator may prescribe by rule, regulation, or order, any payment stablecoin reserves, payment stablecoins, cash, and other property described in this subsection may be commingled and deposited in permitted payment stablecoin issuer or customer accounts with payment stablecoin reserves, payment stablecoins, cash, and other property received by the person and required by the primary Federal payment stablecoin regulator to be separately accounted for, treated as, and dealt with as belonging to such permitted payment stablecoin issuers or customers; or
(D)an insured depository institution that provides custodial or safekeeping services for payment stablecoin reserves shall be permitted to hold payment stablecoin reserves in the form of cash on deposit provided such treatment is consistent with Federal law.
(3)With respect to payment stablecoins held by a person described in subsection (a) for a customer, with or without the segregation required under paragraph (1), the claims of the customer against such person with respect to such payment stablecoins shall have priority over the claims of any person other than the claims of another customer with respect to payment stablecoins held by such person described in subsection (a), unless the customer expressly consents to the priority of such other claim.
(d)A person described under subsection (a) shall submit to the applicable primary Federal payment stablecoin regulator information concerning the person’s business operations and processes to protect customer assets, in such form and manner as the primary regulator shall determine.
(e)The requirements of this section shall not apply to any person solely on the basis that such person engages in the business of providing hardware or software to facilitate a customer’s own custody or safekeeping of the customer’s payment stablecoins or private keys.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Delayed

Effective Date

of SectionFor delayed

Effective Date

of section, see

Effective Date

note below.

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 6003 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, referred to in subsec. (a)(1)(B), is section 6003 of Pub. L. 116–283, div. F, Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 4548, which is set out as a note under section 5311 of Title 31, Money and Finance.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section effective on the earlier of the date that is 18 months after July 18, 2025, or the date that is 120 days after the date on which the primary Federal payment stablecoin regulators issue any final

Regulations

implementing Pub. L. 119–27, see section 20 of Pub. L. 119–27, set out as a note under section 5901 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

12 U.S.C. § 5909

Title 12Banks and Banking

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73