Fed's tiered stablecoin surcharge drops to 1% on coins past $50 billion
Federal Reserve proposals charge stablecoin issuers 2% capital on their first $20 billion, falling to 1% above $50 billion. Comments over the next 60 days are the main chance to contest a schedule built for operational losses before rules take effect in January 2027.
The Investor · Invest desk
What happened
- The Federal Reserve board voted unanimously on September 24, 2026 to approve two stablecoin proposals, the last of four primary prudential regulators to set out reserve and capital rules.
- Board-supervised issuers would add a capital surcharge to 1:1 reserves: 2% on the first $20 billion outstanding, 1.5% on the next $30 billion and 1% above $50 billion.
- Issuers would generally have to meet redemption requests within two business days, the standard the OCC and FDIC set in their earlier proposals.
- Governor Michael Barr signaled that the proposals, though necessary, may leave the most dangerous run scenario unaddressed, TechTimes reported.
- A 60-day comment window opens on Federal Register publication, ahead of the January 2027 statutory effective date.
Why it matters
- What it costs cost An issuer the size of Circle's USDC, about $73 billion, would need roughly $1.08 billion of surcharge capital before credit and operational risk charges, funded alongside full reserves.
- What it limits constraint A new issuer pays 2 cents of capital per coin until it reaches $20 billion, while an incumbent's coins past $50 billion cost 1 cent, so a dollar of entry costs twice a dollar of growth at the top.
- Who's exposed exposure Chief executives and finance chiefs would put their own certifications on audited monthly reserve reports, a standard more common in public-company filings than among crypto-native issuers.
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Run the tiers on an issuer with $50 billion outstanding and the surcharge comes to $850 million: $400 million on the first $20 billion at 2%, plus $450 million on the next $30 billion at 1.5% [16]. TechTimes, which reported the proposal, put that issuer's minimum at roughly $1.15 billion, including $100 million on the portion above $50 billion [10]. An issuer at exactly $50 billion has no such portion. The report's own three line items add to $950 million [17], and $1.15 billion is what the schedule produces at $80 billion outstanding [18].
Larger floats show the schedule's shape. An issuer the size of Tether's USDT, about $184 billion by the report's count [14], would owe roughly $2.19 billion, an effective rate near 1.19% [20]. A flat 2% on the same float would be $3.68 billion [21]. The Fed chose a charge that falls with size, or rather one whose marginal rate halves between the first dollar issued and anything past $50 billion [3]. The proposal reaches state member banks and their stablecoin-issuing subsidiaries [7], so the USDT figure is an illustration of scale.
According to TechTimes, the surcharge is designed to absorb operational losses [4], and separate charges cover credit and operational risk [5]. A run is a liquidity problem. Holders want dollars faster than reserves turn into cash. The proposal answers that with reserves in short-term Treasury bills and other high-quality liquid assets [6], and with a trigger that forces an under-reserved issuer to notify the Fed immediately, submit to a remediation plan, or liquidate and redeem every coin [12]. Against a $50 billion float, the $850 million surcharge comes to 1.7 cents per coin [19].
TechTimes' summary of Barr's warning does not say which run scenario he meant [8]. The board approved both proposals unanimously [1], so his concern came with a yes vote.
Three outcomes look plausible from here. Issuers use the 60 days to argue the tiers down; Barr's concern pulls a run-specific liquidity rule into the final version; or the Fed finalizes close to the draft to hold the January 2027 date [9]. I'd expect the third. The Fed's two-day redemption clock already matches its peers' [11], and the FDIC aligned its reserve composition with the OCC's [13], so the drafts are converging. The counter-case is that the regulators have already missed the statute's one-year deadline once [2], which makes a second slip to add a run provision cheap. A final rule with a separate run requirement, or with moved breakpoints, would show that expectation was wrong.
What to watch
- Whether the final rule adds a liquidity requirement aimed at runs beyond 1:1 reserves and the two-day redemption clock.
- Comment letters from state member banks and their issuing subsidiaries on the 2% rate covering the first $20 billion.
- Whether Barr publicly specifies which run scenario he thinks the proposals leave uncovered.
Information, not investment advice. This story is general information about companies and markets, drawn from cited reporting. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security; check the cited sources before acting.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence78
- Adoption15
- Hype gap+10
- Incentives45
- Confidence72
Perspective Coverage
12 publishers- Builder
- Builder 25%
- Operator
- Operator 48%
- Investor
- Investor 27%
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
The Federal Reserve approved two stablecoin rulemaking proposals in unanimous votes on September 24, 2026, and was the last of the four primary prudential regulators to publish substantive proposed rules on reserve and capital standards.
- [2]
The GENIUS Act, signed into law July 2025, required four primary federal prudential regulators to finalize implementing rules within one year of enactment, a deadline all of them missed.
- [3]
On top of a 1:1 reserve requirement, the proposal introduces a tiered capital surcharge: 2% of the first $20 billion in outstanding stablecoins, 1.5% on the next $30 billion, and 1% on any amount above $50 billion.
- [4]
The tiered capital surcharge is designed to absorb operational losses.
- [5]
Additional capital charges apply separately for credit and operational risk exposures.
- [6]
Every dollar of stablecoins in circulation must be backed by at least one dollar of permitted reserve assets: short-term U.S. Treasury bills and other high-quality liquid instruments.
- [7]
Entities supervised by the Fed are principally state member banks and their stablecoin-issuing subsidiaries.
- [8]
Gov. Michael Barr signaled that the proposals, though necessary, may leave the most dangerous run-risk scenario unaddressed.
- [9]
A 60-day public comment window opens upon publication in the Federal Register, which TechTimes calls the industry's last practical opportunity to reshape the compliance floor before the January 2027 statutory effective date.
- [10]
TechTimes' worked example: a stablecoin issuer with $50 billion outstanding would be required to hold a minimum capital buffer of roughly $1.15 billion under the surcharge formula, given as $400 million at the 2% tier, $450 million at the 1.5% tier, and $100 million on the portion above $50 billion.
- [11]
Issuers would generally be required to fulfill customer redemption requests within two business days, the same standard the OCC and FDIC adopted in their earlier proposals.
- [12]
Should an issuer's reserves fall below the 1:1 ratio, it would have to notify the Fed immediately, submit to a remediation plan, or liquidate its reserves and redeem all outstanding coins.
- [13]
The FDIC followed the OCC in April 2026 with a stablecoin reserve proposal explicitly aligning its reserve-composition framework with the OCC's approach.
- [14]
Tether's USDT has approximately $184 billion outstanding and Circle's USDC approximately $73 billion.
- [15]
The Fed would require monthly public reports on stablecoin volume outstanding and reserve value and composition, audited by a registered public accounting firm and certified by the issuer's chief executive and chief financial officers, a standard more commonly associated with public-company filings than with crypto-native issuers.
- [16]
Surcharge for an issuer with $50 billion outstanding is $850 million.
- [17]
TechTimes' three line items sum to $950 million, not $1.15 billion.
- [18]
The schedule produces a $1.15 billion surcharge at $80 billion outstanding.
- [19]
The $850 million surcharge on a $50 billion float equals 1.7 cents per coin (1.7%).
- [20]
An issuer the size of USDT (about $184 billion) would owe roughly $2.19 billion of surcharge, an effective rate of about 1.19%.
- [21]
A flat 2% charge on $184 billion would be $3.68 billion.
- [22]
An issuer the size of USDC (about $73 billion) would owe roughly $1.08 billion of surcharge, an effective rate of about 1.48%.
Sources
12 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- americanbanker.comFed proposes stablecoin rules under GENIUS Act
1 article · September 25, 2026
- cointelegraph.comFed proposes new capital, redemption rules for stablecoin issuers
3 articles · September 26, 2026
- crowdfundinsider.comFederal Reserve Proposes Reserve and Capital Rules for Stablecoin Issuers Under the GENIUS Act
1 article · September 25, 2026
- crypto.newsFed proposes GENIUS Act rules for stablecoin reserves and bank issuers
1 article · September 24, 2026
- cryptopolitan.comFed proposes stablecoin reserve and capital rules under GENIUS Act
1 article · September 24, 2026
- decrypt.coFederal Reserve Unveils Stablecoin Rules on Reserves and Capital
1 article · September 24, 2026
- Federal Reserve Board - Federal Reserve Board requests public comment on two proposals related to establishing a regulatory framework for Board-supervised payment stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act
federalreserve.gov
1 article
- finance.yahoo.comFed proposes stablecoin rules
1 article · September 25, 2026
- pymnts.comThree Regulators Give Banks Three Paths to Issue Stablecoins
1 article · September 25, 2026
- techtimes.comFederal Reserve Sets Stablecoin Capital Floor; Barr Flags Run Risk and AML Gap
1 article · September 25, 2026
- theblock.coFed proposes reserve limits, capital standards for stablecoin issuers under GENIUS Act
1 article · September 24, 2026
- unchainedcrypto.comFed's Stablecoin Proposal Sets Capital Charges and Presumes Some Yield Deals Are Prohibited - Unchained
1 article · September 25, 2026