Banks Likely to Adopt Stablecoins Cautiously Despite Guidance
Banks face a stablecoin conundrum: Build their own projects, with all the overhead that implies, or work with well-placed existing providers.
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For some, the OCC's recent stablecoin guidance, while helpful, raises as many issues as it clarifies.
The U.S. OCC has published fresh guidance, officially clarifying national banks can provide services to stablecoin issuers in the U.S.
“Establishing clear regulatory expectations will be paramount to give this market an opportunity to grow and mature in a responsible manner,” said Jelena McWilliams. Jelena McWilliams, the chairperson of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, has said the agency is working with other regulators in the United States to explore “under what circumstances banks can engage in activities involving crypto assets.”In a speech at the Money20/20 fintech conference on Oct. 25, McWilliams said the FDIC, in coordination with the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the....
Federal banks in the U.S. see new capacity to provide services to crypto firms, specifically stablecoin operators. Per an interpretive letter from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency released on Monday, national banks will be free to hold reserve currencies for stablecoins.The new guidance reads, "We conclude that a national bank may hold such stablecoin 'reserves' as a service to bank customers."Alongside the announcement, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks noted that stablecoin services are already a part of many banks' activities: “National banks and federal....
On March 19, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published draft guidance on the risk-based approach to virtual assets. The newly updated guidance now applies anti-money laundering and know-your-customer rules to stablecoins, decentralized finance (defi), and non-fungible token (NFT) assets. FATF Defines Decentralized Exchanges and Defi as a Virtual Asset Service Providers For a while now, cryptocurrency proponents have said that one day, global regulators would likely target decentralized finance (defi) and the latest non-fungible token (NFT) hype. For a while now, the Financial Action....