FASB Proposal Would Let Corporate Treasuries Count Stablecoins as Cash, Tempo Report Says

Published October 13, 2026, 01:30 PKT. Based on a new report from Stripe-backed blockchain Tempo published October 12, 2026, as covered by Cointelegraph, Cointime, Traders Union and Binance Square, and background on the FASB proposal from Blockonomi.

Corporate treasurers may soon get to treat stablecoins the way they treat cash in the bank. A new report from Stripe-backed blockchain Tempo, published on October 12, 2026, argues that a proposed update from the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) could remove one of the biggest accounting obstacles standing between corporations and stablecoin adoption. The proposal, issued in August, would allow qualifying stablecoins to be classified as cash equivalents on corporate balance sheets rather than as other assets.

The $300 billion problem: stablecoins are not cash on the books

Under current practice, a company can hold millions of dollars in fully dollar-backed stablecoins and still have to report them as something other than cash, according to Tempo's analysis. That treatment can weaken a company's reported liquidity ratios and complicate compliance with loan covenants, even when every token is backed one-to-one by dollars, the report said. Tempo argues that accounting friction, not skepticism about the tokens, has been a quiet reason many treasuries have stayed on the sidelines.

The timing matters. The proposal arrives after the July 2025 passage of the GENIUS Act, the federal framework for payment stablecoins that takes effect in January 2027, and lands while the dollar stablecoin market has grown past $300 billion, according to the coverage. FASB's initiative addresses a different question than the GENIUS Act: not who may issue stablecoins, but how companies account for holding them.

The redemption test: direct rights with the issuer

Tempo says the decisive eligibility test will not be which token a company holds, but how it holds it. Under the proposed guidance, a stablecoin would qualify as a cash equivalent only if the company has direct redemption rights with the issuer. Two companies holding identical USDC could receive different accounting treatment depending on their arrangements with Circle, the report said.

The distinction has a practical edge: buying USDC through a regular exchange would not automatically qualify the holding as a cash equivalent under the proposal, according to the coverage. Companies that want the favorable treatment would need to negotiate their own redemption agreements with issuers rather than simply buying tokens on the open market and calling it treasury management. That is a higher bar, but it also means the classification carries more weight when it appears on a balance sheet, The Currency Analytics noted.

Coinbase's 2025 playbook with Circle

Coinbase is the clearest working example of the model FASB appears to have in mind. The exchange classified USDC and other payment stablecoins as cash equivalents in its 2025 annual report, supported by its direct redemption arrangement with Circle, Tempo's report said. Coinbase's approach shows the proposed treatment is already defensible in practice for companies with the right issuer relationships, and gives corporate finance teams a template to copy if the rule is finalized.

The November 19 comment deadline

The proposal remains open for public comment until November 19, 2026. FASB will review the feedback before finalizing the accounting changes and setting an effective date, and the board has given no timeline beyond that. FASB said the proposal grew out of a 2025 consultation in which members raised concerns about the lack of a clear standard for how companies should list stablecoins on their balance sheets, according to Blockonomi's earlier reporting. The new rule aims to fix that by changing the definition of cash equivalents to include stablecoins and certain digital assets, and would require firms to disclose what counts toward their cash equivalents.

If finalized, the change would let companies use stablecoins for payments and settlements without the same accounting friction, and could accelerate corporate adoption just as the GENIUS Act's issuer rules come into force, the coverage noted.

This article is news reporting and is not investment advice.

Sources

• Tempo's October 12, 2026 report on the FASB proposal, as covered by Cointelegraph's "What happened in crypto today" roundup, primary source for the cash-equivalent proposal, the redemption-rights test, the Coinbase example and the GENIUS Act context
• Cointime's October 12 report, secondary source for the $300 billion market figure, the exchange-purchase exclusion and the November 19 comment deadline
• Traders Union's October 12 coverage, secondary source for the proposal's August issuance and the liquidity-ratio and loan-covenant effects
• The Currency Analytics' October 12 analysis, secondary source for the significance of issuer-negotiated agreements versus open-market purchases
• Blockonomi's reporting on the FASB proposal, secondary source for the 2025 consultation background and the definition-change mechanics