A top US regulator’s recent easing of its stance on crypto doesn’t mean that the US government’s crusade against the industry is over, according to Custodia Bank CEO Caitlin Long.
Late last week, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced that banks in the US could now go ahead with a range of crypto services, including custody and certain stablecoin activities.
Said Acting Comptroller of the Currency Rodney E. Hood,
“Today’s action will reduce the burden on banks to engage in crypto-related activities and ensure that these bank activities are treated consistently by the OCC, regardless of the underlying technology. I will continue to work diligently to ensure regulations are effective and not excessive, while maintaining a strong federal banking system.”
However, Long says that Operation Choke Point 2.0 – a term commonly used to describe the US government’s covert agenda to stifle the crypto industry – isn’t over unless two other US regulators abandon their unfriendly stance on digital assets.
Last December, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the crypto exchange Coinbase found dozens of instances where the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) asked banks to freeze crypto-related services.
Long also calls upon the Fed to allow Custodia – a prominent digital asset custody bank – to have a master account, or a bank account that financial institutions hold directly with the Federal Reserve.
Says Long,
“AMID ALL THE JUBILATION ABOUT the OCC news, Operation Choke Point 2.0 (OCP 2.0) isn’t over until:
1. Fed and FDIC also rescind their anti-crypto guidance, which is still in effect (Fed & FDIC were far more detrimental to crypto banking than OCC) and
2. Custodia Bank has its Fed master account.
Context: banks that wanted to serve crypto but got regulatory pressure not to (OCP 2.0) were mostly Fed and FDIC-regulated banks, not OCC-regulated. OCC’s move is a big positive an has implications on the other two agencies, but FDIC and Fed anti-crypto guidance is still in effect.“
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform recently requested access to unredacted documents from the FDIC to investigate allegations that banks were deliberately de-banking the crypto industry.
The FDIC has not formally answered the request.
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