The United States plans to adjust accounting rules for stablecoins: those that meet the criteria can be counted as cash equivalents

The blockchain project Tempo released a report indicating that the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) plans to adjust accounting rules for stablecoins, allowing eligible tokens to be classified as cash equivalents on company balance sheets, or reducing accounting barriers for enterprises adopting stablecoins.

Under current accounting practices, stablecoins, even if fully backed by U.S. dollars, may not be counted as cash reserves reported by the company, thereby affecting liquidity ratios and loan covenants. The proposed rules allow companies to use stablecoins for payments and settlements but require them to have direct redemption rights with the issuer. Purchasing USDC through exchanges may not necessarily meet the criteria for classification as cash equivalents.

In its 2025 annual report, Coinbase classified USDC and other payment-type stablecoins as cash equivalents, based on its redemption arrangement with Circle. The public comment period for the FASB proposed rules will continue until November 19, after which the board will review feedback and determine the final accounting changes and effective date. At the time of this proposal's release, the market size for U.S. dollar stablecoins had exceeded $300 billion.