Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is circulate a letter among his Senate colleagues who would withdraw legal advice for banks holding and trading cryptocurrencies, Bloomberg News reported on Aug. 4.
The letter would call on the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to work with the Federal Reserve (Fed) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) to replace some Trump-era regulations on crypto custodial services with more consumer-centric ones. approaches.
Quoting an assistant to the senator, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, Bloomberg indicated that the senator collects signatures from her colleagues before the final version is sent to the OCC.
Known details of the letter show that Warren is concerned that the OCC has not properly managed the risks associated with crypto banking, according to Bloomberg.
The letter would have a series of questions for the OCC, including the names of regulated banks currently offering crypto-related services and the estimated total volume of such activities.
The acting controller responds.
When asked about the issue, Acting OCC Comptroller Michael Hsu said he hadn’t received any letters, although it would be an interesting topic to answer, Bloomberg reported.
When asked at the Philadelphia Federal Reserve’s Sixth Annual Financial Technology Conference on Thursday, Michael responded by saying:
“I believe that everything that goes into crypto banking should be safe, sound, and fair, and we will do what is necessary in a way that is sustainable, sustainable, and robust. I think we are doing a good job. A whole bunch of things just happened, and the banking system is in pretty good shape, knock on wood. I think part of that is the actions we’ve taken.
US Stance on Banks Offering Crypto Custody Services
In the last year of the Trump administration, the OCC established that a national bank could provide cryptocurrency custody services on behalf of customers and authorized banking services to any legal business they choose, including cryptocurrency businesses, as long as they manage risk effectively and comply with applicable law, Bloomberg reported.
This Biden administration reportedly clarified that rule when new acting comptroller Hsu explained that a bank needed written notification of no objection from the oversight office.
Banks interested in offering crypto custody were also required to demonstrate their willingness to conduct such activities securely by having proper and appropriate risk management systems in place.
