CFTC ‘Glitch’ Fix Opens Derivatives Market to Bank-Issued Stablecoins
A quiet Friday update from the CFTC aligns derivatives rules with the GENIUS Act, allowing national trust banks to serve as collateral issuers.
The Plumbing Just Got Fixed
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) quietly issued a technical correction late Friday that effectively hands national trust banks the keys to the crypto collateral market. In a press release accompanying the reissuance of Staff Letter 25-40 (now No-Action Letter 26-05), the agency admitted its previous guidance inadvertently excluded OCC-chartered banks from the definition of “payment stablecoins.”
The update is not just administrative cleanup; it is a structural shift. By explicitly including national trust banks, the CFTC has aligned its derivatives framework with the GENIUS Act (passed July 2025), allowing institutions like Anchorage and Paxos to plug their tokens directly into the clearing machinery of Wall Street.
The Receipt: No-Action Letter 26-05
The original guidance, released in December 2025, allowed Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) to accept specific stablecoins as customer margin. However, it failed to account for the specific charter status of national trust banks, the very entities the GENIUS Act empowered to issue regulated stablecoins.
“The Division… did not intend to exclude national trust banks and moved to reissue the letter after becoming aware that some stablecoins meeting the definition could be issued by those institutions.”
What this means for FCMs:
- Collateral: They can now accept bank-issued stablecoins as initial margin from customers.
- Residual Interest: They can hold these tokens in segregated accounts to meet their own residual interest obligations.
- Reporting: Strict weekly reporting on token holdings remains mandatory for the first three months.
Institutional Context: The Moat Widens
This move creates a bifurcation in the market. While offshore issuers dominate global volume, U.S. national trust banks now possess a regulatory premium: their tokens are collateral-grade in U.S. derivatives markets. For an institutional trader, the ability to post collateral that settles 24/7 without leaving the regulated banking system is the “killer app” the GENIUS Act promised.
The timing is critical. With Bitcoin sliding to $62,890 (-13% in 24h) and Ethereum struggling to hold $1,860, market volatility is forcing traders to prioritize collateral safety over yield. The CFTC has effectively signaled that while crypto assets are volatile, the plumbing used to trade them must be bank-grade.
