Federal Money Services Business Association Launches Stablecoin Standards Authority (SSA)

— New standards body will advance technical, governance, and transparency baselines for U.S. dollar–denominated stablecoins

NEW YORK, Dec. 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Federal Money Services Business Association (FedMSB) today announced the launch of the Stablecoin Standards Authority (SSA), an independent standards platform within FedMSB dedicated to strengthening the reliability, governance, and transparency of U.S. dollar–denominated stablecoins.

The SSA is designed to give stablecoin issuers, money services businesses (MSBs), financial institutions, and technology providers a clear, professionally vetted framework for operating in a rapidly evolving digital-dollar environment spanning payments, remittances, settlements, and emerging decentralized finance (DeFi) use cases.

"Stablecoins have become an increasingly important component of modern digital financial architecture, yet the industry continues to operate without unified standards," said Van Young, Chair of FedMSB. "The Stablecoin Standards Authority is intended to create an evidence-based foundation that supports innovation while safeguarding market integrity, sound risk management, and public trust."

Standards body, not a regulator

The SSA is not a regulatory agency and does not exercise supervisory or enforcement powers. Instead, it functions as a professional standards-setting and convening body focused on the development, publication, and ongoing refinement of practical best practices across five core domains:

• Technical standards, including reserve structures, smart contract design and security, operational resilience, and cross-chain interoperability.
  
  
• Compliance and governance standards, including AML/KYC expectations for MSB-linked stablecoin activity, data governance, and enterprise risk management.
  
  
• Transparency and reporting standards, emphasizing high-quality reserve disclosures and consistent financial and operational reporting.
  
  
• Education and research, including working groups, white papers, and public seminars with regulators, industry, and academia.
  
  
• Voluntary certification and assessment, offering options for issuers seeking independent benchmarking against SSA criteria.

Governance and participation

The SSA will be overseen by a Steering Board composed of technology specialists, compliance executives, risk professionals, and MSB industry leaders drawn from FedMSB's membership. Topic-specific working groups — such as Technology and Security, Audit and Assurance, Cross-Chain Interoperability, and Regulatory Engagement — will lead the technical drafting process.

Draft standards will be published for public comment to ensure transparency and broad stakeholder participation.

"The SSA is designed as an open and collaborative standards organization," said Peter Tang, member of the SSA Steering Board. "Our mission is to provide practical, consensus-driven guidance that supports issuers, service providers, and oversight bodies as stablecoin activity continues to evolve."

Why now

The launch of the SSA follows several important developments, including the AICPA's 2025 Stablecoin Reporting Framework, passage of the GENIUS Act establishing a federal statutory foundation for payment stablecoins, and ongoing work by global standard setters such as the FSB, IOSCO, and ISO. Together, these efforts have created both momentum and a clear need for detailed, implementation-level standards that complement public-sector frameworks while providing operational clarity for market participants.

Initial workplan and AmCoinX index

FedMSB has outlined a phased workplan for the SSA that includes:

• Publication of an inaugural Stablecoin Standards White Paper describing baseline technical, governance, and transparency standards for U.S. dollar–denominated stablecoins.
  
  
• An Annual Stablecoin Standards Report, beginning in 2026, assessing standard adoption, emerging risk patterns, and evolving practices.
  
  
• A structured public consultation program open to regulators, industry participants, MSBs, academics, and civil-society stakeholders.
  
  
• A pilot certification program allowing selected issuers to test and validate SSA standards in real-world environments.

In addition, the SSA will support the development of AmCoinX — the American Stablecoin Index — a new benchmark designed to track stability, transparency, and market-behavior indicators across U.S. dollar–backed stablecoins. AmCoinX will be formally launched at the 2026 MSB 2.0 Summit and maintained as an SSA-aligned public benchmark.

About FedMSB

The Federal Money Services Business Association (FedMSB) is a national nonprofit trade association organized under IRC § 501(c)(6). FedMSB represents money services businesses across the United States, serving as both a standard-setter and a strategic convener for the non-bank financial services sector. Through policy engagement, standards development, industry certification, technical guidance, and educational resources, FedMSB supports regulatory modernization, technical innovation, and the integrity of next-generation "MSB 2.0" financial services. For more information, please visit www.FedMSB.org.

Media Contact:
Ms. Jennifer Wynn
Federal Money Services Business Association
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 212-951-1168

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SOURCE Federal Money Services Business Association (FedMSB)