WASHINGTON–The new acting head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) said crypto-charters granted by the OCC could be reviewed.
If the OCC does act, it could reverse a number of crypto-related authorities approved by the OCC under its previous director, Brian Brooks.
Under Brooks, the bank regulator issued guidance regarding banks’ use of stablecoins and blockchains, and also issued an interpretive letter clarifying that national banks are allowed to provide cryptocurrency custody services, BankingDive reported.
During his last week in office in January, Banking Dive also noted Brooks gave cryptocurrency platform Anchorage conditional approval for a national trust bank charter — a first in the crypto sphere. Two other companies also received conditional approvals.
‘Holistic View’
But new Acting Comptroller Michael Hsu has said he will review the regulator’s past actions regarding cryptocurrency activities and crypto firm charters, adding, "everything's on the table,” BankingDive reported.
"I want to ensure that we have a holistic view across all of the issues, and that that holistic view is aligned with the individual decisions," he said on a call with reporters.
BankingDive reported that under review are the OCC’s interpretive letters related to digital assets or custody, crypto charters in the pipeline, and crypto charters that have been conditionally approved, Hsu said.
"I want to make sure that we're precise in how we talk and think about these things and define them, so that we're not lumping things together that shouldn't be brought together," Hsu said.
‘Spring Team’ Formed
According to BankingDive, Hsu said efforts to build alignment on cryptocurrency policy and vocabulary are part of the mission of the newly created interagency "sprint team," a collaboration between the OCC, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) to explore best practices for crypto regulation.