Hester Peirce, commissioner at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, said the regulator would not object if broker-dealers hold less capital against payment stablecoins.

Peirce said in a statement on 19 February 2026 that staff had issued an FAQ relating to the treatment of payment stablecoins under the broker-dealer net capital rule (Exchange Act Rule 15c3-1).

“The FAQ provides that the staff would not object if a broker-dealer were to apply a 2% haircut on proprietary positions in a payment stablecoin when calculating its net capital,” she added.

Peirce said FAQs shed light on the staff’s thinking about emerging issues but that at the Commission level, she would like to consider how Rule 15c3-1 could be amended to account for payment stablecoins.

JP Richardson, chief executive of exodus, which creates non-custodial cryptocurrency wallets and was the public company in the US to tokenize stocks on the blockchain, said:

Quick background: broker-dealers have capital rules that require them to set aside money against risky assets they hold.

The riskier the asset, the bigger the 'haircut', the chunk of capital they can't deploy (this is a similar concept to banking as well).

— JP Richardson (@jprichardson) February 20, 2026

Today the SEC clarified the haircut will be 2%, giving stablecoins the same treatment as a money market fund and relieving broker-dealers from taking unnecessary precautions.

This move will open the floodgates for embedding stablecoins in institutional finance.

What this…

— JP Richardson (@jprichardson) February 20, 2026

The second-order effect worth watching: This puts pressure on every major broker-dealer to build stablecoin infrastructure or fall behind the ones who do.

Because their competitors now can and there's no longer a capital penalty that makes it uneconomical.

— JP Richardson (@jprichardson) February 20, 2026

Shoutout to folks like @HesterPeirce, @SenLummis + @SenatorHagerty who've been consistent voices pushing for exactly this kind of practical clarity.

— JP Richardson (@jprichardson) February 20, 2026

Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise Asset Management, the digital asset ETF issuer, said:

The most important developments are often the most boring. Worth reading. https://t.co/a53UqxlUZ1

— Matt Hougan (@Matt_Hougan) February 22, 2026

Frank Head of Cyprx Research Lab, said the change is “not technical, it’s transformative” and the 2% haircut is the same as for money market funds, holding cash or U.S. treasuries:

Capital markets just received a structural unlock for stablecoins.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Markets & Trading Division clarified that eligible USD payment stablecoins held by broker-dealers receive a 2% haircut under Rule 15c3-1.

That’s not technical, it’s… pic.twitter.com/9i6ikgUdnn

— Cyprx Research Lab Official (@CyprxResearch) February 21, 2026

“The economics shift materially:

$200M stablecoin inventory

– 100% haircut: $200M capital deduction

– 2% haircut: $4M deduction

That delta flows directly into leverage capacity, trading volume, and ROE.

In practical terms:

Stablecoins move from “capital punitive” to “capital viable” on regulated balance sheets.

If broker-dealers can efficiently hold the settlement asset, tokenized securities markets can scale.

This is less about crypto more about market structure modernization.”

BitGo, the federally chartered digital asset bank, said:

Through a new staff FAQ, the SEC clarified that broker dealers can apply a 2% haircut on payment stablecoins rather than the 100% many used out of caution.

This is a massive unlock for capital efficiency. By removing this primary friction point for institutions, the SEC is…

— BitGo (@BitGo) February 21, 2026

Virginie O’Shea, founder of Firebrand Research, noted:

This has been misinterpreted by the crypto community as some sort of regulatory ruling, where it is actually out for comment. Remember that bank regulators are in charge of stablecoin #finreg classification. https://t.co/lPqoAztz9f

— Virginie O'Shea (@virginieoshea) February 23, 2026

Christopher Perkins, president at Coinfund, said:

This is a good start, but this really doesn't impact the big banks–aka GSIBs–until Basel rules have been addressed. That's the real liquidity unlock.

I think we'll see movement–especially related to GENIUS Act compliant stablecoins–this year. https://t.co/nCOAYgzKPg

— Christopher Perkins 🦅🌎⚓️NYC (@perkinscr97) February 23, 2026