WASHINGTON—Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks said the United States must adopt digital currency payment rails if the country hopes to compete with global payment rails in the future.
Brooks further argued changing consumer needs must be prioritized over the interests of powerful banks that may be against the rise of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin.com reported.
Brooks, the former chief legal officer at Coinbase Global, told Bitcoin.com “50 million Americans own digital currency and we cannot ignore that.”
Brooks said part of “the reason why payments activity has moved outside the banking system is because consumers now want to receive their services in a different way.”
Consumers of financial products want fast and error-free services and this means the United States needs to “get to a place where payments can be transmitted virtually instantaneously and where errors can be eliminated,” according to Brooks.
One License Issued
Under Brooks, the OCC has already issued a banking license to a fintech company Varo Money. The OCC has also given the green light for banks to start offering crypto custody services, Bitcoin.com noted.
Despite granting banks the opportunity to participate in crypto-related services, Brooks still thinks banking systems are outdated and not suitable for today’s changing environment, Bitcoin.com said. Brooks noted the pandemic’s shutdown of the American economy exposed that fact.
“When the lockdown started, Americans relied on banks to process and send stimulus checks and payments, yet for many people it took days, sometimes weeks before they received their payments,” he said.