In line with the new U.S. administration’s directive to support the growth of crypto markets, federal financial regulators are taking steps to dismantle barriers to participation in the sector.
Federal banking regulators, the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), issued new guidance Friday setting out that regulated banks can engage in “crypto-related activities” without prior approval of the FDIC.
The new guidance, which rescinds the FDIC’s previous guidance in this area, declared that banks can engage in activities that involve emerging technologies, such as crypto assets and digital assets, as long as they are adequately managing the risks of dealing with these technologies.
“With today’s action, the FDIC is turning the page on the flawed approach of the past three years,” said Travis Hill, acting chairman of the FDIC, in a release.
“I expect this to be one of several steps the FDIC will take to lay out a new approach for how banks can engage in crypto- and blockchain-related activities in accordance with safety and soundness standards,” he added.
At the same time, a couple of divisions of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said that they are withdrawing existing guidance on the listing of crypto derivatives and the clearing of digital assets — also with a view to easing access to the sector.
The CFTC’s division of clearing and risk said that it retracted an advisory from 2023 “to ensure that it does not suggest that its regulatory treatment of digital asset derivatives will vary from its treatment of other products.”
The FDIC said that it expects to issue further guidance clarifying its approach to banks’ crypto-related activities.
aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaW52ZXN0bWVudGV4ZWN1dGl2ZS5jb20vbmV3cy9mcm9tLXRoZS1yZWd1bGF0b3JzL2ZkaWMtY2Z0Yy1yZXRyYWN0LXBhc3QtY3J5cHRvLWd1aWRhbmNlLw(U2NyZWVuSGVpZ2h0)NzIw(U2NyZWVuV2lkdGg)MTI4MA(T0ZTWVNfUmVmZXJyZXI)(dmlzaXRvcktleQ)ZENlaWlHd0I(dmlzaXRLZXk)R0ZkWDBmV3I){kind=small}