Your Members Can't Wait for
PPSI Clarity.
They Don't Have To.

This week, America's Credit Unions sent a letter to the NCUA raising concerns that deserve attention from every credit union executive watching the GENIUS Act unfold. The core ask: give credit unions flexibility to invest in Permitted Payment Stablecoin Issuer (PPSI) subsidiaries that are structured differently from traditional CUSOs — and clarify whether PPSI reserve assets count against the existing 1% aggregate CUSO investment cap.

These are legitimate concerns. They are also concerns your credit union doesn't have to wait to resolve before serving members who hold crypto today.

What the PPSI Debate Is Actually About

The GENIUS Act, signed into law in July 2025 and now entering its implementation phase, requires that federally insured credit unions wishing to issue payment stablecoins do so through a separately licensed subsidiary — a PPSI. For federal credit unions, the NCUA has interpreted this to mean a CUSO structure under Part 712.

That creates real structural friction. CUSOs are built around service organizations that primarily serve credit union members. Stablecoin issuers are reserve-backed payment infrastructure. ACU's letter correctly identifies that the CUSO rulebook wasn't written for this use case — and asks the NCUA to consider tailored treatment.

Then there is the 1% question. Federal credit unions are capped at investing 1% of paid-in and unimpaired capital and surplus in CUSOs. If PPSI reserve assets — the collateral backing the stablecoins themselves — count against that cap, the participation economics for any credit union outside the top tier become deeply unfavorable.

The NCUA has acknowledged this tension and is soliciting comment. Final regulations are due by July 18, 2026. Until then, credit unions considering the stablecoin path are in a genuine regulatory holding pattern.

Meanwhile, Your Members Are Already Here

While the regulatory machinery turns, the members in your branches — and in your loan queues — aren't waiting. They hold Bitcoin. They hold Ethereum. And right now, when they need liquidity, they have two choices: sell their crypto and trigger a taxable event, or go to a non-bank lender who charges them 15–20% to borrow against it.

Neither outcome serves your member. Neither outcome serves your credit union.

Two Paths Into Crypto. One Is Ready Now.

There are fundamentally two ways a credit union can participate in the crypto economy. Understanding the difference is the most important strategic clarity your board can have right now.

The PPSI path may well be right for some credit unions — particularly large institutions with the capital, legal resources, and long-term payments strategy to pursue it. We are not dismissing it. The regulatory questions ACU raised are important and will shape how the industry evolves.

But for the credit union that wants to serve its members in the next quarter — not the next regulatory cycle — crypto-collateralized lending is the path that exists today.

What Aetherum Actually Does

Aetherum is B2B infrastructure purpose-built for NCUA-regulated credit unions — powering crypto-collateralized lending as a white-label product: your brand, your member relationship, your loan on your books.

The member pledges their crypto as collateral, held through best-in-class institutional infrastructure. Your credit union never takes custody of digital assets — they never appear on your balance sheet as a crypto holding. Automated risk controls monitor collateral thresholds continuously, so your team stays informed without manual oversight.

From a regulatory standpoint, this is a collateralized consumer loan. From a member standpoint, it's finally a reason to bring their full financial life to their credit union.

Built for the way credit unions actually work

Aetherum integrates with the core banking systems credit unions already run. The loan officer dashboard, the compliance officer workflow, the member-facing application — all designed around NCUA examination standards, not retrofitted from a crypto-native product.

Our risk assessment model scores each borrower's position dynamically, accounting for collateral volatility and loan-to-value thresholds. Your compliance officer sees the same clarity your loan officer does. And the member sees a plain-language borrowing position — not a black-box approval.

The GENIUS Act will eventually bring stablecoin infrastructure to credit unions. That is a genuinely exciting development for the long arc of the movement. But the members sitting across from your loan officers right now — the ones with six figures in crypto and a home improvement project — don't need stablecoin rails. They need a lender who understands their full financial picture.

That credit union can be yours. Today.