Crypto companies seeking approval from the US Federal Reserve Bank should not be treated differently from other financial institutions, according to Jonathan Gould, head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
Gould told blockchain conference on Monday that some new charter applicants in the digital or fintech space could be considered new activity providers for a national custodial bank, but noted that “custodial and custodial services have been done electronically for decades.”
“There is simply no justification for treating digital assets differently,” he added. “Furthermore, it is important that we do not limit banks, including current national trust banks, to the technologies or operations of the past.”
The OCC regulates national banks and has been around for a long time saw crypto companies as a risk to the banking system. Only two crypto banks have an OCC license: Anchorage Digital, which has been licensed since 2021, and Erebor, which received a preliminary banking charter in October.
Crypto “should have” a way of monitoring
Gould said the banking system has “the capacity to evolve from telegraph to blockchain.”
He added that the OCC has received 14 new bank applications so far this year, “including some from entities engaged in new or digital asset activities,” which is nearly equal to the number of similar applications the OCC has received in the past four years.
“Chartering helps ensure that the banking system continues to keep pace with financial developments and supports our modern economy,” he added. “That’s why entities that engage in activities involving digital assets and other emerging technologies should have a path to becoming federally supervised banks.”
Gould dismisses the banks’ concerns
Gould noted that banks and financial trade groups have expressed concerns about crypto companies getting banking charters and the OCC’s ability to oversee them.
Related: Argentina Considers Allowing Traditional Banks To Trade Crypto: Report
“Such concerns risk undoing innovations that would better serve bank customers and support local economies,” he said. “The OCC also has years of experience overseeing a crypto-native national trust bank.”
Gould said the regulator “hears from existing national banks, almost daily, about their own initiatives for exciting and innovative products and services.”
“All of this strengthens my confidence in the OCC’s ability to effectively supervise new entrants as well as new activities by existing banks in a fair and equitable manner,” he added.
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