FDIC Chairman: Stablecoins will not receive any form of deposit insurance under the GENIUS Act

FDIC Chairman Travis Hill stated at the American Bankers Association Washington Summit that the FDIC plans to propose a rule clarifying that payment stablecoins governed by the GENIUS Act do not qualify for "pass-through insurance," meaning that third-party financial institutions cannot obtain government deposit protection on behalf of users.

Hill noted that this position aligns with the legislative intent of the GENIUS Act, even though the act does not explicitly prohibit such arrangements. Hill pointed out that current pass-through insurance rules require the identity and rights of end customers to be verifiable through standard processes, which is not a common feature of large stablecoin arrangements. Although stablecoins do not enjoy FDIC insurance, the GENIUS Act mandates that they must be fully reserved.

Additionally, Hill mentioned that the FDIC is considering the positioning of tokenized deposits, suggesting that regardless of the technology or accounting method used, tokenized deposits should be treated as deposits and enjoy the same regulatory and deposit insurance treatment as non-tokenized deposits.

White House crypto advisor Patrick Witt has been continuously defending the CLARITY Act on the X platform, stating that attempts to turn it into an anti-competitive bill are undesirable. Jefferies analysts noted this week that the growth of stablecoins could lead to a 3% to 5% loss of core bank deposits over the next five years.