Republican Senator Mike Crapo sent a letter to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on Tuesday 1 September requesting further clarity on the use of crypto in banking transactions.
The letter follows an official OCC release in July, authorizing national banks and federal savings associations to provide crypto custody solutions for clients.
Addressed to OCC Comptroller Brooks, the letter seeks additional info on the barriers to adoption, the implication of new technologies, and what regulator tools “regtech” are available, amongst others.
Is the U.S. Banking Committee Growing Impatient?
Crapo, who chairs the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, asked the OCC for clear rules, not only for crypto payments but also for private blockchains that use so-called distributed ledger technology (DLT),
Please provide the committee with an update on its findings and the next steps the OCC intends to take with this technology.
The burgeoning decentralized finance (DeFi) sector continues to grow at breakneck speed, without the need for slow centralized oversight. Crapo’s letter, while polite, suggests the Banking Committee may be growing impatient without a clear path forward for the industry,
Your office recently published a letter that clarifies national banks’ and federal savings associations’ authority to provide cryptocurrency custody services for customers. It would be prudent to provide similar clarity for payments.
It’s not all slow-going in the world of regulation, however. Wyoming, a state that is quickly becoming known for its progressive regulation, has already fast-tracked the banking charter for crypto influencer Caitlin Long.
Dubbed Avanti, the project may open its crypto custodial business as early as October of 2020.