A proposed overhaul by the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) would allow stablecoins meeting certain requirements to be classified as cash equivalents on corporate financial statements, an analysis said, potentially lowering barriers to corporate stablecoin adoption.

On Oct. 12, blockchain outlet Cointelegraph reported that Tempo, a blockchain company backed by Stripe, saw the change as potentially increasing the use of stablecoins in corporate treasury operations.

The issue is an accounting standards amendment proposed by FASB in August. Under current accounting treatment, stablecoins held by companies may not be recognised as reported cash holdings even if they are fully backed by dollars. That can affect liquidity ratios or assessments of loan covenants, leaving companies with accounting burdens even when they use stablecoins for payments and settlement.

Tempo said the proposal could reduce those problems. If companies can classify tokens that meet the standards as cash equivalents, accounting disadvantages tied to using stablecoins as a means of payment could be reduced.

Companies, however, must hold direct redemption rights against stablecoin issuers. Buying USDC on an exchange alone may not allow the token to be classified as a cash equivalent asset. Tempo explained that a contract with the issuer determines eligibility, and the token alone is not sufficient.

Coinbase was cited as a real-world example. In its 2025 annual report, Coinbase classified USDC and other payment stablecoins as cash equivalents. That treatment was based on a redemption agreement with Circle, confirming that accounting classification can depend less on which token a company holds than on what legal relationship it has with the issuer.

Procedural steps also remain. The FASB proposal is taking public comments through Nov. 19. FASB will then review submitted feedback and finalise the standard and its effective date. The timing for companies to apply the new standard has not been set.

The discussion also intersects with U.S. moves to refine stablecoin regulation. The United States passed the GENIUS Act in July 2025, its first comprehensive federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins. The law is set to take effect on the earlier of January 2027 or 120 days after federal regulators finalise detailed rules. While the GENIUS Act addresses issuer requirements such as reserves and redemption obligations, the accounting amendment concerns how companies reflect stablecoins they hold on financial statements.

The market is also expanding rapidly. Dollar-pegged stablecoins have exceeded $300 billion in market size, according to DefiLlama. Bloomberg reported that the U.S. administration is considering ways to promote the overseas spread of dollar-based stablecoins, including reviewing cooperation with private companies on overseas stablecoin projects involving the Treasury Department, the State Department and the U.S. International Development Finance Corp (DFC).

That narrows the key points to watch to two. One is how strongly FASB reflects the direct redemption right requirement in the final version. The other is whether the role of stablecoins as a corporate treasury tool is strengthened in practice as accounting standards and stablecoin regulation advance together. Tempo assessed that the proposal could make stablecoins more practical in corporate financial operations.