Banks have the approval, as long as they meet certain security requirements.
The Fed position represents greater recognition of the sector by regulators.
The United States Federal Reserve (Fed), is approved for US banks to offer services with Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies. Jerome Powell, president of the country’s main financial institution, said banks can serve digital assets as long as they can manage the risk.
At a press conference after the Open Market Committee Meeting (FOMC) held earlierPowell expressed that The participation of the Federal Reserve in the Bitcoin ecosystem and other cryptocurrencies focuses mainly on supervision Banking “We believe that while banks can completely understand their clients with digital assets and manage associated risks, they can serve them safely and solid,” he said.
«A good number of banks that we regulate and supervise [ofrecer servicios con criptomonedas]»Powell continued. “The threshold has been a bit higher for banks participating in cryptographic activities,” he completed.
“The Central Bank is not against innovation,” Powell added in response to a journalist who consulted the risks associated with the digital assets contemplated by the annual report of the Financial Stability Supervision Council (FSOC), one of the entities in charge of supervising the work of the Federal Reserve.
All this happens right at the time when the United States Congress has taken the first steps to Investigate an anti -bitcoin campaign in US banks. The cryptocurrency industry denounced, since last year, an operation Checkpoint 2.0 or “strangulation point”, which is thought to be ordered to prevent digital assets such as Bitcoin to interact with the traditional financial system.
Caitlin Long, Executive Director of Custody Bank and vocal criticism of Operation Choke Point 2.0, He commemorated the anniversary of the blocking maneuvers of the banks to the cryptocurrencies. According to Long, on November 27, 2022, just Sunday after action of thanksgiving, The Federal Reserve initiated regulatory actions against five banks for its activities related to cryptocurrencies. This action, which marked the beginning of an alleged “strangulation” campaign against the Pro Bitcoin bank, extended for a long time.
Long later said that Custody Bank was one of the affected banks. “The other 4 banking entities no longer exist or have reduced or abandoned their activities related to cryptocurren It was an isolated action, but a coordinated operation Among the three main federal banking agencies (Fed, Fdic and Occ).
Now, after Powell’s statements, the industry has begun to react positively. One of The comments Observed in the social network X, published by the Legal Chief of Coinbase, Paul Grewal, points out that “banks now have the freedom to manage the risks involved in cryptocurrencies, as well as manage the risks of any other sector. What a change compared to the last four years!
