The Federal Reserve has withdrawn four crypto-asset related advisories, including ones that required banks to inform the Fed of planned activities in advance or receive a non objection letter. The two other main federal banking regulators, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) had already cancelled the requirements to get permission.
It follows a letter from Republican members of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee earlier this month requesting the withdrawal of the letters. They characterized the supervisory non objection process as a method to “stonewall financial institutions” and prevent them from engaging with distributed ledger technology (DLT). The FDIC’s responses to freedom of information requests, combined with the lack of services launched by banks, largely support this assertion.
Oversight will now happen through the normal Fed supervisory process. The Federal Reserve statement says, “the Board will work with the agencies (FDIC, OCC) to consider whether additional guidance to support innovation, including crypto-asset activities, is appropriate.”
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