U.S. banks will be able to offer services in Bitcoin (BTC) and other crypto assets, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has revealed. This decision represents another step in the integration of traditional finance and the decentralized economy.
The OCC issued Interpretive Letter 1188 stating: Banks can conduct risk-free trading of major crypto assets As part of business.
In this scheme, banks act as intermediaries by acquiring assets from customers and selling them to another counterparty. In other words, it does not hold virtual currencies on its balance sheet and has the same functionality as a broker acting as an agent.
Since this does not imply direct exposure to price, regulators believe that: This type of operation is risk-free and does not require additional levels of monitoring..
The change is in line with a trend that intensified under President Donald Trump’s administration, which was marked by the removal of regulations deemed harmful to the industry. Prominent among these, as reported by CriptoNoticias, is the repeal of fiscal rules pushed toward the end of President Joe Biden’s administration that imposed typical decentralized exchange obligations on traditional financial intermediaries.
Additionally, in March, the President of the United States signed an act creating a 200,000 Bitcoin reserve fund. The presidential order reads: The national treasury consists of BTC held by the nation.mainly obtained by forfeiture in judicial proceedings.
Additionally, at the time, the OCC rescinded measures put in place during President Joe Biden’s administration. At the time, the agency clarified that companies no longer need to seek prior permission to engage in virtual currency-related activities.