Major Policy Shift by SEC: Compliance stablecoins can be classified as cash equivalents for enterprises, Circle and Tether receive Favourable Information.

On August 5, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released groundbreaking accounting guidance that allows dollar stablecoins meeting specific criteria to be considered as "cash equivalents" on corporate balance sheets. This policy requires stablecoins to have 100% cash/short-term government bond backing, a strict 1:1 peg, and guaranteed redemption rights, explicitly excluding Algorithmic Stablecoins and interest-bearing Tokens. This move removes key barriers for Financial Institutions to get on board and aligns with the regulatory synergy of the GENIUS Act signed by Trump in July, opening a clear Compliance path for issuers like Circle and Tether. This article will analyze the policy details and its impact on the financial treatment of encryption assets.

Core Policy: Three Iron Rules Define Compliance Stablecoins According to the regulatory modernization plan promoted by SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, stablecoins that qualify as "cash equivalents" must meet:

1. 100% reserve-backed: Underlying assets are limited to cash or short-term U.S. Treasury securities.
2. Absolute Price Stability: Strictly maintain a 1:1 peg to the US dollar, with volatility approaching zero.
3. Instant Redemption Guarantee: Holders enjoy the legal right to redeem in US dollars. The policy clearly excludes algorithmic stablecoins (such as the UST collapse model), yield-bearing tokens (such as staking yield stablecoins), and non-USD pegged assets, ensuring that their risk characteristics are consistent with traditional cash equivalents (such as money market funds).

Regulatory Breakthrough: Corporate Financial Handling and the Dawn of Institutional Get on Board This policy shift is of milestone significance:

• Eliminate Accounting Barriers: Address the financial classification challenges of enterprises holding stablecoins, enhancing the transparency of financial reports.
• Get on board TradFi: Clearing compliance concerns for banks, hedge funds, and other traditional institutions to allocate stablecoins.
• Regulatory Coordination Implementation: In conjunction with the "Genius Act" (which requires stablecoin issuers to undergo public audits and meet reserve requirements), it establishes the position of stablecoins as independent financial instruments that are "not securities, not commodities." Circle (the issuer of USDC) and Tether (the issuer of USDT) are the biggest beneficiaries, as their compliance products have clear accounting treatment basis.

Risks and Prospects: Unresolved Issues Under Temporary Guidance Despite the clear policy benefits, the SEC emphasizes that the current guidelines are temporary and will advance the complete rule-making through "Project Crypto". The residual risks include:

• Regulatory Gaps for Complex Models: Innovative models such as multi-currency collateral and hybrid stablecoins have not yet been covered.
• Redemption Risk Concerns: The ability to pay out in extreme redemption scenarios remains in question.
• Transparency Gap: Some issuers do not disclose sufficient details about their reserve assets.
• Illegal Use Regulation: The application of stablecoins in money laundering scenarios needs further restriction.

Conclusion: The SEC's inclusion of compliant stablecoins as cash equivalents marks a substantial shift in the U.S. crypto regulatory paradigm. This policy not only reconstructs the financial handling standards for corporate cryptocurrencies but also releases a key signal for traditional financial institutions to get on board on a large scale. With the "Genius Act" and SEC guidelines forming a regulatory combination, compliant issuers like Circle and Tether are entering a golden period of development. However, the regulatory vacuum surrounding algorithmic stablecoins and complex models, as well as the transparency issues related to redemption mechanisms, remain unresolved swords of Damocles. Investors should pay attention to the subsequent details of the "crypto plan," as policy dividends and regulatory risks will reshape the landscape of the stablecoin market.