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🚨 A quiet but important shift is happening in U.S. crypto regulation.
Recent SEC staff guidance suggests broker-dealers may be able to treat certain qualifying payment stablecoins more favorably on their books, using a much lighter capital haircut than what many firms were effectively working with before. That may sound technical, but the impact is simple: it can make institutional use of compliant stablecoins more practical.
For Ripple’s RLUSD, this matters.
If capital treatment becomes less restrictive for broker-dealers, stablecoins like RLUSD could become easier to integrate into real trading, treasury, and settlement flows. That does not automatically mean instant mass adoption, but it does reduce one of the friction points that has slowed institutional participation.
The bigger story is not just RLUSD alone. It is the direction of travel.
Regulators appear to be drawing clearer lines around how compliant stablecoins can fit into financial infrastructure. And when that happens, institutions usually pay closer attention, especially where efficiency, settlement speed, and balance sheet treatment are involved.
That said, one thing is important to keep in mind: this is staff-level guidance, not a full SEC rule rewrite. So it is better viewed as a meaningful signal than a final destination.
Still, signals matter.
And right now, the signal looks constructive for institutional stablecoin adoption — with RLUSD positioned to benefit from that shift.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) just quietly changed a single rule, and it might just be the catalyst that permanently bridges traditional finance with the crypto ecosystem.
By drastically reducing the capital requirements for Wall Street firms holding stablecoins, regulators have officially lowered the biggest barrier keeping blockchain infrastructure out of institutional finance.
Here is exactly what changed, how it works, and why it is a massive victory for the crypto market.
The Problem: The 100% Capital Trap
To understand the magnitude of this shift, you have to understand how Traditional Finance (TradFi) broker-dealers operate. When a regulated institution holds an asset, they are required by law to set aside a specific amount of reserve capital based on how risky regulators perceive that asset to be. This is known as a "haircut."
Until now, the SEC treated stablecoins with a 100% haircut.
This meant that if a broker-dealer held $1 million in stablecoins, regulators viewed that entire $1 million as completely unusable for capital compliance purposes. To stay compliant and operational, the firm effectively had to lock up another $1 million of its own cash.
Holding $1 million in stablecoins was freezing $2 million in balance sheet capacity. It made holding digital dollars incredibly inefficient, financially penalizing, and highly unattractive for regulated institutions.
The Pivot: The 2% Solution
The SEC has officially updated its rulebook, clarifying that the haircut for proprietary stablecoin positions has been slashed from 100% down to just 2%.
This aligns the regulatory treatment of stablecoins with traditional money market funds. Instead of freezing the full equivalent value of their stablecoin holdings, broker-dealers now only need to set aside a tiny 2% buffer.
The Old Way: Holding $1M in stablecoins required $1M in locked backup capital.
The New Way: Holding $1M in stablecoins requires just $20,000 in locked backup capital.
The Ripple Effect: Wall Street Meets On-Chain
Institutions can now hold stablecoins without nuking their capital ratios.
With the financial penalty removed, broker-dealers are free to integrate stablecoins into their daily operations. They can now efficiently use them for:
- Instant, 24/7 settlement
- Seamless collateral transfers
- Purchasing and trading tokenized treasuries
- Executing large-scale on-chain transactions
Why Crypto Wins: If stablecoins are finally balance-sheet friendly, institutional adoption will accelerate rapidly. Wall Street now has a clear, compliant, and cost-effective runway to use digital dollars.
More institutional usage translates to massive demand, cementing stablecoins as the core financial infrastructure of the future and the ultimate bridge between TradFi and the #blockchain .
#SEC #WallStreetNews

🚨 Major Regulatory Shift: SEC Cuts Stablecoin Capital Discount to 2% — Why It Matters

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken a move that could reshape how stablecoins are adopted in traditional finance.

On February 19, the SEC allowed brokerage firms to apply just a 2% capital discount on compliant stablecoins — down from the previous 100%.

In other words: holding digital dollars for blockchain settlements no longer ties up capital the way it used to.

📉 What actually changes?

Previously, any institution holding stablecoins for settlement on the blockchain was treated as holding a high-risk asset, making their use economically impractical.

Now, they are treated economically similar to traditional money market funds.

🏦 The result:

This opens the door for Wall Street to integrate stablecoins into settlements, tokenized securities, and blockchain-based financial infrastructure — without punitive capital requirements.

📜 Why now?

The shift relies on the new GENIUS framework for U.S. stablecoins, which enforces 1:1 reserves and strict compliance standards.

The regulatory message is clear: compliant stablecoins are no longer “risky assets,” but a reliable payment layer.

⚡ Market impact:

Pressure on brokers to build stablecoin infrastructure
Accelerated adoption of tokenized assets and on-chain settlements
Growth potential for regulated stablecoins like USDC in institutional finance
Simply put: what was uneconomical for institutions yesterday… is now viable overnight.

#Crypto #Stablecoins #SEC #Tokenization #BlockchainFinance

📅 February 20 - United States | In new guidance issued by its Trading and Markets Division, the regulator indicated that it will not object to broker-dealers applying a 2% “haircut” to their own positions in certain stablecoins.

📖The concept of a “haircut” involves discounting a percentage of an asset’s value when it is used as collateral, reflecting its risk. More volatile assets receive larger haircuts.
The SEC’s acceptance of a 2% haircut places certain stablecoins practically on par with money market funds backed by Treasury bonds, cash, and short-term government securities.
Commissioner Hester Peirce emphasized that stablecoins are essential for operating on blockchain infrastructure and that their use will allow brokers to expand activities related to tokenized securities and crypto assets.
The move is part of a broader shift by the regulator toward a more constructive stance with the digital sector.
In the past year, the SEC launched a crypto task force, spearheaded Project Crypto to modernize regulations, and is preparing a potential innovation exemption to integrate tokenization into capital markets.
Meanwhile, federal agencies are working to implement the GENIUS Act, which establishes a federal framework for stablecoins and was passed last year.
Industry analysts believe this adjustment eliminates a significant friction point. Tonya Evans noted that a 2% haircut completely changes the economic equation for brokers. Luigi D’Onorio DeMeo stated that the measure reduces barriers to deeper integration into traditional finance, improving liquidity and settlement efficiency.
In practical terms, the decision could facilitate stablecoins becoming structural components within institutional financial flows.

Topic Opinion:
It’s not a sensational headline, but it is a concrete step toward the institutional normalization of stablecoins. If the regulatory framework continues to evolve with clarity and balance, we will see more traditional capital flowing into crypto infrastructure in a sustainable way.
💬 Do you think this change will drive mass adoption of stablecoins?

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#SEC #Stablecoins #Tokenization #WallStreet #CryptoNews $USDC $USDT $USD1