Bitcoin values have pulled back in recent days, but the crypto-currency world has big news on the horizon. The U.S. Office of the Currency Comptroller is planning to disclose the first national “crypto bank charter.”
That could go a long way towards growing digital asset acceptance and adoption and boosting the case for blockchain technologies. There are various explanations of why OCC news is important.
Brian Brooks, head of OCC, “said that young companies that could offer a full suite of financial services should be chartered as banks so that their clients do not have to exit their investment assets into traditional bank accounts,” reports Tanaya Macheel.
“We’re not necessarily trying to make it so the big banks can dominate the crypto market, we’re trying to tell crypto participants that a bank charter might be the right form for you to do what you’re doing,” Brooks said.
A special-purpose depository institution charter was established by the State of Wyoming in 2019 for businesses that want to provide digital currency services. Under that charter, in September, the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken became the first crypto business to become a licensed bank. In November, Avanti, a bank aiming to sell tokenized U.S. dollars, digital asset custody and trading services to other customers, obtained the same license.
Brooks said the OCC plans to assess applicants for the new charter with the same criteria and rigor as any conventional bank.
This can be great news for mainstream cryptocurrency adoption. Many more investors will be entering cryptocurrency markets as it becomes more accepted by the national financial system.
