The staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced that broker-dealers can take a 2% “haircut” on their stablecoin holdings when calculating net capital, a move that was met with approval by various stakeholders.

Previously, broker-dealers were uncertain about applying a 100% haircut on their dollar-pegged stablecoins, which could exclude those assets from their net capital under current regulations.

This announcement was shared through a Frequently Asked Questions post from the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets.

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce commented, stating that a 100% haircut was overly severe considering the value of the reserves backing stablecoins.

Broker-dealers are required to maintain certain levels of net capital to fulfill their financial obligations while minimizing the risks from market fluctuations.

In additional remarks, Commissioner Peirce expressed that this clarification promotes the use of stablecoins in the financial sector, facilitating a wider range of business endeavors involving tokens and crypto assets.

In a weekend social media post, Marc Baumann, CEO of 51, referred to the SEC’s statement as a significant development, indicating that Wall Street would now be able to effectively utilize stablecoins without adversely affecting their capital ratios.

The stablecoin market cap faced a decrease recently, yet still holds a substantial value of $295 billion, growing steadily since 2023. President Donald Trump previously signed the GENIUS stablecoin legislation into law in July 2025, marking a pivotal shift for the cryptocurrency landscape. Meanwhile, Fed’s Neel Kashkari has voiced skepticism about the practicality of stablecoins compared to traditional money transfer methods.

“I could send any one of you $5 with Venmo, or PayPal, or Zelle, so what is it that this magical stablecoin can do?”