Banking organizations in the United States have set out to clarify what role banks can play in the cryptocurrency economy.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the three agencies — The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency — said that they had collectively conducted “policy sprints,” a method of preliminary analysis, on the various issues that may arise when banking with crypto.
The agencies said that while the emerging cryptocurrency market “presents potential opportunities and risks for banking organizations,” they wanted to “provide coordinated and timely clarity” in order to protect customers and assure compliance with existing laws and regulations, as well as determine if certain ventures are legally permissible.
Without going into detail, the agencies identified the areas where there needs to be further clarity on certain activities involving banks, such as asset safekeeping, loans collateralized in crypto and facilitation of purchases and sales of crypto.
They also identified a number of activities in which banks may be interested in engaging in the future, including crypto custody, the aforementioned collateralization of loans and more.
The agencies plan to conduct further analysis and release more information on these issues throughout 2022 and new issues that may crop up as the market evolves.
In other tech news, the head of Instagram has agreed to testify before Congress over the app’s harmful effect on young people.
