The Trump administration is looking at ways to push dollar-backed stablecoins overseas as Treasury yields rise and demand for U.S. debt stays under scrutiny. The idea could bring federal agencies and private companies into the effort. Bloomberg reported the discussions on September 23, citing people familiar with the talks.
At the heart of the proposal is a broader push to keep the dollar central to global finance. Stablecoins have also become part of the conversation around Treasury demand. Still, there is no confirmed program, list of private-sector partners, funding plan or launch date.
Washington Looks Abroad for Stablecoin Growth
The talks could involve the Treasury Department, State Department and Development Finance Corporation. The DFC finances private-sector projects in developing economies. Bloomberg’s report, however, does not name any companies that could take part in a stablecoin initiative.
Stablecoins are digital tokens built to hold a steady value, usually against the dollar. Their issuers keep reserves behind the tokens. USDT from Tether and USDC from Circle are the two largest dollar stablecoins.
Under U.S. rules, permitted payment stablecoins must maintain one-to-one reserves. Cash and short-term Treasury securities can be used for that backing. So, if dollar stablecoins become more widely used overseas, the pool of assets supporting them could also grow.
That does not automatically mean new Treasury demand, though. Economist Ousmène Mandeng has argued that stablecoins could simply move money already held in dollar assets into tokenized forms.
Trump’s Crypto Policy Targets Dollar Tokens
The idea is also consistent with a policy direction the White House has already set. Trump’s January 2025 executive order called for the worldwide growth of lawful dollar-backed stablecoins.
The order took another position as well. It barred federal agencies from establishing or promoting a U.S. central bank digital currency. That leaves private dollar tokens as the main focus of the administration’s digital-dollar approach.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later made the connection with the dollar and Treasuries more directly. He said stablecoins would “buttress the dollar’s status as the global reserve currency.” He also linked their growth to greater demand for U.S. Treasury securities.
The GENIUS Act now provides the main federal framework for payment stablecoins. Trump signed the law on July 18, 2025. Among its requirements, qualifying payment stablecoins must maintain one-to-one reserves.
Treasury Yields Add to the Focus
The stablecoin discussions come at a time when the cost of government borrowing is getting plenty of attention. The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate by a quarter point on September 16.
The federal funds target now sits between 3.75% and 4%. At the same time, the 10-year Treasury yield has moved above 5% this month, according to the supplied report.
When yields rise, the government faces higher borrowing costs. That puts another reason on the table for policymakers to watch where demand for Treasury securities comes from.
Stablecoin growth has not moved at the same pace across issuers, either. Tether reported about $184.6 billion of USDT in circulation as of June 30. Circle reported roughly $74.6 billion of USDC on September 21.
Wall Street Builds Its Own Stablecoin Plans
The push is not coming only from Washington or crypto-native firms. Traditional financial institutions are working on dollar stablecoin projects of their own.
Twenty-one institutions announced plans to establish a company during the second half of 2026. The group includes Bank of America, Citi and Goldman Sachs. It expects to launch a regulated dollar stablecoin during the first half of 2027.
Asset managers are moving into the reserve side of the market, too. Fidelity launched a digital reserve fund for stablecoin issuers, while Morgan Stanley introduced a similar reserve portfolio earlier this year.
Agora has also received preliminary conditional approval for a national trust bank. Its proposed bank would provide stablecoin and custody services.
https://x.com/withAUSD/status/2102067858029031710
Taken together, these moves show how much the stablecoin market has widened. Banks, asset managers and regulated issuers are now working in an area that was once largely associated with crypto-focused companies.
GENIUS Rules Move Toward Implementation
The GENIUS Act goes beyond encouraging stablecoin use. It lays out rules covering reserves, issuance and consumer protections.
Permitted payment stablecoins must be backed by high-quality liquid assets. The list includes cash, bank deposits and short-term Treasury securities.
There is still a regulatory step ahead. Agencies missed the law’s July 18, 2026 deadline for final implementing rules. Under the legislation’s fallback provision, January 18, 2027 becomes the effective date.
The Treasury issued a proposed rule in August covering the issuance and sale of payment stablecoins. Public comments are still part of that process.
Several agencies have responsibilities under the framework, including the OCC, FDIC, NCUA, Treasury, FinCEN and OFAC.
Overseas Push Could Involve DFC Financing
That puts the Development Finance Corporation in the picture if Washington eventually moves forward with overseas stablecoin ventures. Congress expanded the DFC’s financial capacity through legislation enacted in December 2025.
The changes extended the agency’s authorization through 2031 and raised its maximum contingent liability to $205 billion.
Congress also created a $5 billion equity revolving fund. Under the expanded authority, the DFC can take minority equity positions of up to 40%.
Those tools could potentially be used for joint ventures involving stablecoin companies or payment infrastructure. But there is an important caveat: current reporting does not say that the DFC will finance any stablecoin projects.
Dollar Strategy Faces Questions
The proposal is taking shape while other jurisdictions work on their own stablecoin rules. European regulators, for instance, are implementing reserve and other requirements under MiCA.
There is also an open question around Treasury demand. Some analysts see growing stablecoin reserves as a possible source of additional demand for Treasury securities. Others argue that stablecoins may simply shift money that is already sitting in dollar assets.
For now, Washington has not announced a finished overseas stablecoin program. No partner list, budget or launch schedule has been made public.
What happens next will depend on the policy process and how widely dollar-backed stablecoins are adopted. The bigger question is whether that growth creates additional demand for Treasuries or mainly changes how existing dollar assets are held.
