Stablecoin Regulation: FDIC Announces New Proposed AML Rules For Issuers

bitcoinistPublished on 2026-05-24Last updated on 2026-05-24

Abstract

The FDIC has proposed new rules to extend Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and economic sanctions compliance standards to FDIC-supervised Permitted Payment Stablecoin Issuers (PPSIs). This would formally classify PPSIs as financial institutions, requiring them to implement full Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) programs, OFAC-aligned sanctions compliance structures, and related reporting obligations. The proposal follows earlier prudential standards for PPSIs. Supervision would involve FDIC coordination with FinCEN, with enforcement shielded for entities with effective programs unless significant failures occur. The public comment period lasts until June 9, 2026, with a final rule expected later that year. The FDIC estimates 5-30 PPSIs may seek approval initially, with compliance costs likely modest due to leveraging parent companies' existing infrastructure.

As crypto regulations continue to take shape in the US, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to extend Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and economic sanctions compliance standards to FDIC-supervised Permitted Payment Stablecoin Issuers (PPSIs). The move aims to bring digital asset issuers further within the compliance architecture that has long governed traditional banking.

Major Highlights Of New FDIC Proposed Framework

According to a press release on Friday, the proposed rule by the FDIC mainly mandates PPSIs to comply with applicable Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) program requirements, economic sanctions programs, and reporting obligations, including those issued by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

This latest rulemaking follows an earlier FDIC proposal from April 2026, which established prudential standards for PPSIs covering reserve assets, redemption, capital, and risk management. Under the new parallel FinCEN-OFAC proposed rule, PPSIs would formally be classified as financial institutions under the BSA, requiring them to adopt full AML programs and OFAC-aligned sanctions compliance structures, including internal controls, a designated compliance officer, staff training, independent testing, customer identification, suspicious activity reporting, and on-chain transaction screening capabilities.

In terms of supervision and enforcement, the proposed rule would require the FDIC to notify the FinCEN director at least 30 days before initiating any formal enforcement action or significant supervisory determination related to a PPSI’s AML/CFT program. However, the FDIC signals that PPSIs with demonstrably effective AML/CFT programs would be shielded from enforcement action in most circumstances, except where there is a “significant or systemic failure” to implement required programs.

For context, PPSI refers to all entities authorized under the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act) to issue payment stablecoins as subsidiaries of insured State nonmember banks and State savings associations.

Looking Ahead

The public comment period on this proposed rule is expected to last until June 9, 2026, which would mark 60 days after its publication in the Federal Register. The final rule will be announced later in 2026, along with implementation details and deadlines. The FDIC estimates that between five and 30 FDIC-supervised PPSIs could seek approval in the first few years following enactment, and that most would leverage existing AML infrastructure from their parent institutions, keeping incremental compliance costs modest.

Total crypto market cap valued at $2.5 trillion on the daily chart | Source: TOTAL chart on Tradingview.com

7 Months After the Collapse of Huiwang, Southeast Asia's Escrow Platforms Undergo a Major Reshuffle

Following the collapse of Huione Pay—dubbed the "Alipay of Southeast Asia"—seven months ago, the region's underground financial guarantee platform sector is undergoing a significant reshuffle. This power vacuum has been swiftly filled by emerging platforms such as XinBi, Tiger/Navigator, JinBei (renamed JinBo), Dali/Tiancheng, and FullyLight. These platforms, operating largely via Telegram and offering services like escrow for illicit transactions, have absorbed the vast user base and markets left behind by Huione. While positioning themselves as "trust intermediaries," their primary clientele consists of networks involved in online scams, money laundering, illegal gambling, and even human trafficking. For instance, the Tiger/Navigator platform explicitly provides "escrow" services for kidnapping-for-ransom operations ("强押车交易"). Data underscores the immense scale: Huione alone processed over $103 billion in cryptocurrency payments and facilitated over $31 billion through its escrow market before its downfall, linking it to Cambodia's notorious Prince Group. Since its collapse, competitors have seen explosive growth. For example, the XinBi platform has accumulated over $1.6 billion in total USDT revenue, while platforms like NewPay, OkPay (under Dali), and FullyLight Wallet collectively processed over $4.8 billion in USDT in a single year. This ecosystem thrives in regions like Cambodia and Myanmar, where regulatory gaps allow these platforms to act as critical financial infrastructure for sprawling cybercrime industries, from scam compounds to online casinos. The article concludes that the moniker "Southeast Asian Alipay" is a misnomer, obscuring the platforms' fundamental role in enabling serious criminal enterprises rather than representing legitimate financial innovation.

Odaily星球日报1m ago

7 Months After the Collapse of Huiwang, Southeast Asia's Escrow Platforms Undergo a Major Reshuffle

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The Changing Landscape: What Are Crypto VCs Experiencing?

Title: The Shifting Landscape of Crypto Venture Capital The era of dedicated crypto venture capital funds is undergoing a significant transformation. Once essential for navigating the sector's complexity and high risk, these specialized funds are now facing an identity crisis as the market matures. This shift mirrors historical patterns in other specialized investment classes like cleantech and SPACs, where initial information advantages dissipate as technologies become mainstream and integrated into existing industry frameworks. The article argues that crypto is reaching a critical inflection point, transitioning from a "building phase" to an "integration phase." Major players like Stripe, BlackRock, and Visa now engage with crypto not for its novel mechanics but as a foundational financial infrastructure. Their needs—regulatory compliance, banking partnerships, distribution channels—align with traditional fintech, a domain easily understood by large, generalist funds like Sequoia and Founders Fund. This evolution creates a "barbell effect" within the VC landscape. On one end are massive, diversified platforms that can incorporate crypto as one vertical among many. On the other are small, nimble funds focused on niche, experimental projects. The middle ground—medium-sized dedicated crypto funds—is being squeezed out. Their typical fund size makes it impossible to generate sufficient returns solely from early-stage crypto bets, yet they cannot compete with giants for later-stage deals. Consequently, leading crypto-native firms like Paradigm and Framework Ventures are expanding into AI, robotics, and other sectors, driven partly by LP pressure for better returns amid a broader VC DPI crisis. Others, like Dragonfly and a16z, have narrowed their crypto focus predominantly to financial infrastructure like stablecoins, reframing the sector's core narrative. For crypto entrepreneurs, this consolidation presents challenges. While generalist funds offer larger checks and broader resources, crypto projects now compete fiercely with AI for attention and capital within these firms. Furthermore, the long-term, non-commercial foundational work that built the ecosystem—funded by dedicated crypto VCs—is less likely to attract generalist capital focused on direct returns. The conclusion is that "crypto investor" as a standalone category is becoming obsolete, akin to "internet investor." Crypto is becoming a baseline infrastructure layer. The future will see a barbell structure: large-scale growth financing handled by generalist funds, while pioneering, speculative projects are funded by small, specialized vehicles. The dedicated crypto funds of the 2017-2021 boom, which incubated core infrastructure, are giving way to this new, bifurcated reality.

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The Changing Landscape: What Are Crypto VCs Experiencing?

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As Consensus Accelerates, What Are Young Investors Betting On?

Title: As Consensus Forms Faster, What Are Young Investors Betting On? In the rapid evolution of tech investment, a new generation of young investors is navigating a landscape where AI, robotics, commercial aerospace, and quantum computing are advancing simultaneously. Traditional investment logic based on financial models is giving way to a need for deep technical understanding and the ability to act before industry consensus forms. An analysis of trends from the "WAIC FUTURE TECH" list of young investment leaders reveals key shifts in focus. The first major trend is the movement of AI from the digital screen into the physical world. Investment is shifting from large language models and chatbots towards embodied AI, robotics, AI hardware, and edge computing. While demonstrations generate excitement, the real challenge lies in achieving scalable, reliable, and cost-effective delivery in complex real-world environments like factories and logistics. Success depends not just on algorithms but on the integration of sensors, actuators, and control systems. Second, the competitive focus for large models is moving beyond raw capability toward building an "intelligence flywheel." The goal is to create self-reinforcing systems where user interaction generates data, improving the model, which in turn enhances the user experience and attracts more engagement. Companies that successfully embed AI into workflows to create these closed-loop systems can build lasting value that isn't easily erased by the next model upgrade. Third, facing a potential bottleneck in high-quality human-generated data, investors are looking at new underlying technologies. Reinforcement learning and self-play, as demonstrated by AlphaGo Zero, offer paths for AI to generate its own experience. Scientific foundation models, which aim to build general AI capabilities for fields like life sciences and materials discovery, represent a non-consensus direction that could unlock new frontiers of knowledge and data. Finally, in deep-tech areas like quantum computing, commercial aerospace, and space-based infrastructure, patient capital is essential. These fields have long, uncertain development and validation cycles involving complex engineering, supply chains, and regulations. Investment here requires a long-term view, focusing on foundational team capabilities and the eventual emergence of market demand, even if commercial returns are distant. Collectively, these trends illustrate how young investors are adapting to a new era. They are learning to make earlier, technically-informed judgments, balance hype with real-world viability, and provide the patient capital needed to build the deep-tech foundations of the future.

marsbit46m ago

As Consensus Accelerates, What Are Young Investors Betting On?

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Unlocking $100 Million in Liquidity? Pump.fun's New Policy Tests the 5-Minute Pump Technique

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India's largest asset manager, SBI Funds Management, successfully listed on July 21 with a nearly $10 billion IPO, attracting approximately 42 times subscription. However, the first-day closing price rose only about 6.3%, falling short of the 16% premium anticipated in the grey market. This signals robust demand for core Indian financial assets but also disciplined pricing, indicating the IPO market is selectively open for strong brands with clear growth narratives. The low reported underwriting fees, which led some global banks to reduce participation, highlight a shift in pricing power towards powerful issuers like SBI. Its strong brand, banking parent, and stable cash flows reduced reliance on traditional investment banking sales channels, with local brokers playing a larger role. This fee dynamic may not be replicable for weaker issuers. SBI's performance is seen as a key test for India's IPO pipeline, including potential future large listings like Reliance Jio and NSE. Its success with tempered gains sets a new price anchor: high-quality assets can launch, but excessive valuation premiums are constrained. The true measure of a sustained market reopening will be whether subsequent major offerings can proceed smoothly at reasonable valuations.

marsbit1h ago

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