The US Securities and Exchange Commission has introduced new guidance allowing broker-dealers to impose a “2% haircut” on ownership positions in certain stablecoins – a move that some crypto stakeholders say helps bring digital assets closer to traditional finance.

i guidance Released Thursday by the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets, the staff addressed a customer protection rule that requires broker-dealers to safeguard customer assets and maintain a cushion for those assets. “Staff will not object if a broker-dealer applies a 2% haircut to proprietary positions,” the new guidance states. A haircut is typically applied to an asset when it is used as collateral.

In a statement in response to the guidance, SEC Commissioner Hester Paris said the use of stablecoins could allow brokers to do more.

“Stablecoins are essential for transactions on blockchain rails,” he said. “The use of stablecoins will make it possible for broker-dealers to engage in a wider range of business activities related to tokenized securities and other crypto-assets.”

The new FAQs mark the SEC’s latest move to become friendlier to the digital asset industry. Over the past year, the SEC has created a crypto task force covering topics ranging from custody to tokenization, launched “Project Crypto” to modernize its rules around crypto, and has plans to propose one. Exemption from heresy To integrate tokenization into capital markets.

More broadly, federal agencies are also working to implement a new law, called GENIUS, passed last year, creating a federal regulatory framework for stablecoins.

Stablecoins – TradeFi

Firms have to apply “haircuts” to assets to reflect risk, so more volatile assets have larger haircuts. According to Tonya Evans, some brokers were taking a 100% haircut on stablecoins, making stablecoins more unaffordable to hold. Evans is a fintech strategist and board member of the Digital Currency Group.

“A 2% haircut completely changes the calculus that puts payout stablecoins on par with money market funds, which hold underlying assets like US Treasuries, cash, and short-term government securities,” Evans wrote. In one Forbes Essay.

Avalanche’s former COO Luigi D’Onorio DeMeo said the new SEC guidance would mean stablecoins could be treated like money market funds. The move “removes a significant friction,” and also means that stablecoins could become a larger part of traditional finance.

“Lowers the barrier to deeper integration of stablecoins into traditional financial rails = better liquidity, more efficient settlement, and broader institutional on-ramp,” he said. In one Post On X

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