SEC Clarifies Stablecoin Haircut Treatment, Allowing Brokers to Apply 2% Rate to Net Capital

Rule 15c3-1 under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act requires broker-dealers to apply asset haircuts that reflect risk. Assets deemed to lack a “ready market” may be subject to a 100% deduction when net capital is calculated. Applying a haircut of just 2% to payment stablecoins could free up broker-dealer capital to support trading, settlement and tokenized-securities businesses.

On February 19, 2026, the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets updated its crypto-asset FAQs. It said it would not object if broker-dealers treated proprietary positions in payment stablecoins as having a “ready market” and applied a 2% haircut to whichever had the greater market value: long or short positions. That means up to 98% of their value may count toward net capital. The rate is in line with the haircut applied to money-market funds.