Stablecoins Edge Closer to Counting as Cash on US Balance Sheets

Stablecoins may soon count as cash on US corporate balance sheets — but only if they tick three specific boxes.

What the accounting board proposed

In August, the Financial Accounting Standards Board floated a proposed update on how the existing definition of cash equivalents applies to digital assets such as stablecoins. It keeps that definition intact and adds worked examples instead, so companies stop guessing.

Feedback stays open until November 19, 2026, and the board will set an effective date only after it reviews the responses.

Three boxes, or no cash treatment

A token needs three things to qualify: an on-demand contractual redemption right, that right running directly to the issuer for a known amount of cash, and segregated reserves held at least one-to-one in short-term, highly liquid assets. Miss one and the token stays an ordinary asset on the books.

That rules out the lazy shortcut. Buying USDC on an exchange would not necessarily qualify, because the contract that counts runs to the issuer, not to the venue.

Coinbase already made the cut — it classed USDC and other payment stablecoins as cash equivalents in its 2025 annual report, supported by its redemption arrangement with Circle.

Why a crypto reader should care

Today a fully dollar-backed stablecoin can still fail to count toward a company's reported cash reserves, which skews liquidity ratios and loan covenants. Remove that penalty and corporate treasuries get a cleaner reason to hold and move stablecoins for payments and settlement.

The dollar-backed market has already passed $300 billion, and the GENIUS Act, passed in July 2025, takes effect in January 2027 or 120 days after regulators finish implementing rules.

The proposal also adds a disclosure duty for every entity that presents cash equivalents, whether or not it holds digital assets. Early adoption is allowed, so treasury teams do not have to wait for the final version.