The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. have come up with a roadmap of future activities related to cryptoassets in 2022 to provide greater public clarity on whether such activities by banking institutions are legally allowed.
Activities outlined in the roadmap are cryptoasset safekeeping and traditional custody services; ancillary custody services; facilitation of customer purchases and sales of cryptoassets; issuance and distribution of stablecoins; loans collateralized by cryptoassets; and activities involving the holding of cryptoassets on balance sheet, the agencies said in a joint statement Tuesday.
“The agencies also will evaluate the application of bank capital and liquidity standards to crypto-assets for activities involving U.S. banking organizations and will continue to engage with the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision on its consultative process in this area,” the statement reads.
The Federal Reserve Board, OCC and FDIC said they carried out a series of interagency “policy sprints” related to cryptoassets and the sprint work focused on three areas.
These areas are identification and assessment of risks related to consumer protection, safety and soundness and compliance and consideration of legal permissibility of activities by banking organizations related to crypto-assets; development of a common vocabulary using terms with regard to the use of crypto-assets by banking institutions; and analysis of the applicability of exiting guidance and regulations and identification of areas that may benefit from additional clarification.
On Jan. 27, the Potomac Officers Club will host a virtual forum to offer the GovCon community an insight into the national security aspect of digital currencies. Register here.
