The US Federal Reserve (Fed) has revealed plans to give stablecoin issuers and fintech companies direct access to federal payments infrastructure without the need to partner with traditional banks. Federal Reserve Governor Waller announced the proposal at the opening of the central bank’s “Payments Innovation Conference” on Oct. 21, speaking about what he called “Accounts Payable” Or “Limited main accounts” For legally qualified institutions.
This step represents a remarkable shift in Federal Reserve policies, which were historically characterized by caution toward crypto companies throughout the years those companies spent warring for access to banking industry services. Several companies that have fought lengthy legal disputes to open large accounts with the Fed, including Custodia Bank and Kraken, could benefit from the expected wave of approvals.
Fed Direct Accounts Target Stablecoin Issuers, Fintech Companies
The proposed payment accounts will provide direct access to federal payment channels with risk management tools that do not extend to full master accounts. “This concept of payment accounts is intended to provide basic payment services to institutions legally qualified by the Federal Reserve, which currently provide payment services to their users through a banking intermediary,” Waller said during the conference opening.
BIG NEWS from @federalreserve Payments Innovation Conference this morning.
Governor Chris Waller announced that the central bank is offering a new type of limited access principal account (or what he calls a “skinny principal account”) for ALL legally eligible institutions to… pic.twitter.com/Wg7ygjpvJj– Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) October 21, 2025
Institutions with these accounts will face certain operational restrictions to limit their exposure to the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet. These accounts will not earn interest on deposits and may be subject to limits on the size of their balances. Participants will also lose the benefit of exceeding daily withdrawal limits; This means that transactions are rejected when the account balance reaches zero.
Additionally, accounts will not benefit from daily borrowing discounts and certain payment services for the Fed, and it will be difficult for the Fed to track and manage the risks of exceeding withdrawal limits.
“The idea is to customize the services for the new accounts based on the needs of the companies and the risks they pose to the Federal Reserve Banks and the payment mechanisms,” Waller explained in his speech. Waller also emphasized the right of each legally qualified party to obtain an account within existing legal frameworks and without changes to eligibility requirements.
Waller told the audience, “Payments innovations are experiencing rapid developments and the Federal Reserve must keep pace with them,” allowing Ripple Labs and Anchorage – under the proposed framework – to get faster approvals for large account applications submitted during this year.
Industry leaders meet jointly with Federal Reserve’s stance on digital assets
This announcement helped draw attention to the conference and a quick meeting of Fed officials with directors of companies operating in the crypto sector, including Sergey Nazarov – CEO of the Chainlink Foundation – Alesia Haas – CFO of Coinbase – and Heath Tarbert, president of Circle.
This conference was held at the Federal Reserve Board of Directors in Washington, in the presence of around 100 private sector innovators, during which Waller declared that “the Fed does not view the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector with contempt or suspicion”, and added: “We welcome you today to discuss the future of payment operations in the United States, all on our soil, which no one could not have imagined organizing an event a few years ago. Like that.”
During the meeting, Sergei Nazarov highlighted the main operational challenges in compatibility during the opening session of the conference on the link between the traditional financial system and digital assets. According to the live broadcast of the conference: “Nazarov expressed his appreciation for the active role played by regulators, emphasizing the importance of having these necessary conversations within the stronghold of the Federal Reserve. »
For his part, Michael Shaulov, CEO of Fireblocks, highlighted the importance of custody on the blockchain during a session discussing the challenges of integrating decentralized finance (DeFi) systems, and spoke about the “developed laws that allow these discussions to take place”, noting the difficulties encountered by technical teams. Information on traditional banks adopting blockchain infrastructure.
Jennifer Barker – from BNY Mellon Bank – also highlighted the need for cooperation between traditional financial sector (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi) systems to achieve smooth integration, as she stated during the discussions, saying: “The decentralized financial sector allows the circulation of investments 24 hours a day (24 hours a day, 7 days a week), which was impossible for many traditional banks.
Although the Federal Reserve has not yet set a timeline for implementing the accounts payable proposal, Governor Waller explained that Federal Reserve staff will hold discussions with appropriate authorities to evaluate the pros and cons of the proposed framework before activating it.
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