Key Takeaways:

• Banks can now issue dollar-backed stablecoins. The CFTC says national trust banks are allowed to create them under the GENIUS Act.
• Regulators are warming up to “digital dollars.” The move shows growing support for bank-issued stablecoins in the US.
• Stricter rules are coming with it. These stablecoins must be fully backed and follow clearer oversight rules.

US derivatives regulator the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has updated its guidance to make clear that national trust banks can issue certain dollar-pegged stablecoins under a framework tied to the GENIUS Act, a new US stablecoin law.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is another US regulator, which oversees securities, such as stocks, bonds, and investment contracts. Its role is to protect investors, ensure transparent disclosures, and regulate capital markets. In contrast, the CFTC oversees commodities and derivatives markets, including futures, options, and swaps tied to assets like oil, gold, or interest rates. In crypto, the CFTC generally treats assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum as commodities and regulates derivatives based on them.

Derivatives are financial contracts whose value depends on another asset, such as a stock, bond, currency, or index.

What happened

On 6 February, 2026, the CFTC’s Market Participants Division said it reissued Staff Letter 25-40 with a narrow but important change: it expanded the definition of a “payment stablecoin” so that a national trust bank may be a permitted issuer for the purposes of the letter’s “no-action” position.

A no-action letter is essentially the regulator stating that it does not plan to take enforcement action if firms comply with the conditions set out in the letter. It is guidance, not a new law, but it can shape how companies operate.

However, this letter is not a law or formal rule. It is a statement from a regulator that it does not intend to take enforcement action if a company operates under the specific conditions described in the letter.

While legally non-binding, no-action letters are often treated by companies as practical green lights, because they significantly reduce regulatory risk and signal how the regulator is likely to interpret existing rules in practice.

A stablecoin is a type of crypto token designed to maintain a stable price, most commonly $1, by being backed by assets such as cash or short-term US Treasury bills (short-term debt issued by the US government, with maturities of up to one year). People often use stablecoins for faster transfers or to move money between crypto trades without jumping through hoops with bank wires.

The original Staff Letter 25-40 (issued 8 December 2025) focused on futures commission merchants (FCMs), firms that help customers trade regulated futures, and how they can accept non-securities digital assets, including payment stablecoins, as margin collateral (money or assets posted to back a trading position).

Basically, it’s like allowing a trader to post digital dollars instead of cash as a security deposit to back a futures trade, as long as certain conditions are met.

Why “national trust banks” matter

A national trust bank is a type of bank chartered at the federal level (often associated with oversight by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, or OCC).

In its press release, the CFTC said it became aware that stablecoins fitting the letter’s definition may be issued by national trust banks, and it did not intend to exclude them, so it revised the definition and reissued the letter.

CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig framed the change as aligning with a broader US push on stablecoin policy, pointing to the GENIUS Act and describing the US as a leader in payment stablecoin innovation.

How the GENIUS Act fits in

The GENIUS Act (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act) was signed into law on July 18, 2025, creating a federal framework for “payment stablecoins.”

Among other requirements, the law is widely described as pushing 1-for-1 backing with high-quality liquid assets and setting standards around reserves and disclosures for permitted issuers.

In other words, the law is meant to make “digital dollars” safer and more transparent by setting clearer rules for who can issue them and what must back them.

What this means for everyday crypto users

This CFTC update does not mean “any bank can print crypto dollars tomorrow.” What it does mean is:

• The CFTC is explicitly recognizing that stablecoins issued by national trust banks can qualify under its guidance for certain regulated trading firms to use as collateral.
• It’s another step toward bringing stablecoins closer to traditional finance, especially in regulated markets like futures trading.

For novice crypto users, US regulators are building clearer lanes for “dollar-backed crypto” to be issued by regulated institutions, rather than leaving the space dominated by loosely regulated or offshore players.

What to watch next

The practical impact will depend on which institutions actually issue stablecoins, the reserve and disclosure standards they follow, and how widely stablecoins are used in regulated markets.

For users, the safest habit remains the same: check who issues a stablecoin, what backs it, and whether it is regulated because not all “$1 tokens” are built the same.