U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency: Federal banks can engage in crypto custody and certain stablecoin activities

Odaily News The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a new letter announcing the withdrawal of Interpretive Letter No. 1179 issued on November 18, 2021, and reiterated that the crypto asset custody, distributed ledger and stablecoin activities discussed in the previous letter are permitted.
The OCC confirmed in the letter that “federal banks and federal savings associations can engage in crypto asset custody, certain stablecoin activities, and participate in independent node verification networks.” Rodney E. Hood, acting director of the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, said: “The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency expects banks to adopt the same strong risk management controls as traditional banking to support new banking businesses.”
The agency also said it was also withdrawing a requirement for institutions to implement restrictive controls before engaging in encryption activities.