Did a bureaucratic tweak just widen the runway for bank-backed stablecoins? In a quiet but consequential move on February 6, 2026, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Market Participants Division reissued CFTC Staff Letter 25‑40 to clarify that “payment stablecoin” — for purposes of the division’s no‑action position — may be issued by a national trust bank.
The reissue updates a December 8, 2025 letter that offered no‑action relief around futures commission merchants (FCMs) accepting certain non‑securities digital assets as margin collateral and holding certain proprietary payment stablecoins in segregated customer accounts. After the original letter was published, staff discovered the definition could be read to exclude payment stablecoins issued by national trust banks. That wasn’t the intention, so the division widened the definition and reissued the letter to close the gap. You can read the CFTC’s announcement on the agency site here: CFTC press release.
Why those three words — “national trust bank” — matter
National trust banks are not a hypothetical. During President Trump’s first term, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency chartered the first such banks with authority to custody and issue payment stablecoins. By explicitly naming them as acceptable issuers, the CFTC has removed an ambiguity that might have chilled market activity: banks that meet the national trust bank description can now, under the letter’s conditions, produce tokenized dollars that FCMs could accept as collateral without drawing enforcement action.
Chairman Michael S. Selig framed the change as part of the agency’s broader push to support on‑shore crypto innovation, tying it to recent legislative and regulatory steps such as the GENIUS Act and the CFTC’s eligible collateral framework. “I’m pleased that the CFTC staff is amending its previously issued no‑action letter to expand the list of eligible tokenized collateral to include payment stablecoins issued by these institutions,” Selig said in the agency release.
What the no‑action letter actually permits
The technical relief is narrow and conditional: it applies to FCMs that accept non‑securities digital assets as margin collateral or that deposit certain payment stablecoins as residual interest, subject to the letter’s risk‑management and custodian conditions. It does not rewrite securities law or give carte blanche to any digital token; rather, it clarifies eligibility within the CFTC’s limited no‑action framework.
Market implications — small change, outsized signal
On the surface, the amendment is a drafting fix. But in practice it sends a signal to both banks and market participants: tokenized dollars issued by appropriately chartered national trust banks will be treated as eligible in this narrow CFTC context. That can accelerate product planning at banks, encourage more issuers to seek charters that explicitly permit stablecoin issuance, and make it easier for FCMs to design collateral frameworks that include these tokens.
There are caveats. The reissued letter is a staff no‑action position, not a rulemaking. It’s limited to non‑securities digital assets within the CFTC’s purview and does not resolve potential overlaps with other agencies — notably the SEC or the OCC on bank supervision. Market players will still be watching for formal rulemaking, interagency guidance, and how the new GENIUS Act provisions are implemented in practice.
A broader regulatory posture
This clarification arrives as part of a flurry of CFTC activity under Chairman Selig: the agency has signaled interest in harmonizing crypto taxonomy with the SEC, exploring tailored registration categories, and refining eligible collateral rules. It recently withdrew a 2024 proposal on event contracts, emphasizing a recalibration of priorities and a willingness to revisit controversial rule ideas.
For banks, stablecoin issuers and trading houses, the reissued letter reduces one source of legal doubt. For regulators and lawyers, it’s a reminder that much of the crypto era’s policy progress will look like incremental corrections and clarifications rather than headline‑grabbing edicts.
If you want the precise language and conditions, consult the CFTC’s press release and the reissued staff letter on the agency’s website: CFTC press release.