President Trump signed an executive order directing the Federal Reserve to evaluate whether it can extend direct access to Reserve Bank payment accounts and payment services to non-bank financial companies and uninsured depository institutions, including those engaged in digital assets. If acted upon, the order could fundamentally alter the relationship between the crypto ecosystem and the core US financial infrastructure.
The order demands a 120-day report from the Fed assessing its legal authority to broaden access, options for doing so, and any legal impediments. It also questions whether individual Reserve Banks can independently gatekeep access, a point sharpened by the protracted Custodia Bank litigation.
The scope goes well beyond the Fed’s existing “skinny account” initiative, which is deliberately limited. Those payment accounts are available only to institutions with a banking charter, including uninsured banks, and offer access to certain Fed payment rails only, with no interest on balances, balance caps, no daylight overdraft privileges and no discount window borrowing.
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