The global crypto-asset market cap has increased from approximately $2.3 trillion on election day, November 5, 2024, to approximately $3.9 trillion today, some eight months later. That rise in demand has been accompanied by a dramatic change in how U.S. federal regulators approach crypto-assets. During the last administration, some financial institutions felt discouraged from offering crypto-asset products and services, which this administration emphatically reversed. Today, as a result of market growth, customer demand, and a more favorable regulatory environment, many financial institutions are exploring or launching crypto-related products and services.Continue Reading Federal Banking Regulatory Agencies Issue Guidance on Crypto-Asset Safekeeping
OCC Reaffirms that its National Bank Preemption Regulations are Lawful
On May 8, 2025, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (“CSBS”) asked the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) to comply with Executive Orders 14129 and 14267 by reversing its regulations governing national bank preemption.[1] Executive Order 14129 directed federal agencies to rescind unlawful regulations,[2] and Executive Order 14267 directed federal agencies to reduce anti-competitive regulatory barriers.[3] If the OCC had adopted the position advocated by the CSBS, it could have opened the door to state-level oversight of national banks and federal savings associations, likely resulting in a more fragmented regulatory landscape, where national banks face varying rules across different states. But the OCC refused to change course. The federal government has recently pursued deregulatory policies on multiple fronts, and the OCC’s position on preemption effectively limits state banking regulators that might otherwise seek to apply stricter regulatory requirements on national banks and federal savings associations.Continue Reading OCC Reaffirms that its National Bank Preemption Regulations are Lawful
What’s New in Digital Asset Policy?
On May 20, 2025, the Senate cleared procedural obstacles to consider the GENIUS Act on the Senate floor. Originally introduced on Feb. 4, by Senator Bill Hagerty, R-TN, along with Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott, R-SC, Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, and Cynthia Lummis, R-WY, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins of 2025
Banks May Provide Cryptocurrency Transaction and Custody Services, but OCC Has Yet to Provide Clear Compliance Requirements
On May 7, 2025, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) issued a follow up to its July 2020 Interpretative Letter 1170, which allowed national banks to provide cryptocurrency custody services to their customers.[1] The May 7 letter (Interpretive Letter 1184)[2] further clarified that banks can buy and sell cryptocurrency at the custody customer’s direction and outsource cryptocurrency custody and execution services.[3] But in contrast to the OCC’s clear confirmation that banks can provide cryptocurrency custody services, the guidance for safe and sound practices for those services remains murky.Continue Reading Banks May Provide Cryptocurrency Transaction and Custody Services, but OCC Has Yet to Provide Clear Compliance Requirements