.svg)
Crypto-asset deregulation has taken a further step in the US as the Federal Reserve Board has withdrawn guidance for banks on crypto-assets and dollar tokens.
Rescinding its 2022 supervisory letter that had established an expectation that state member banks inform it of planned or current crypto-asset activities, the regulator said that henceforth it would monitor banks’ crypto-asset activities through the normal supervisory process.
It also rescinded its 2023 supervisory letter on the supervisory nonobjection process for state member bank engagement in dollar token activities.
Supervisory letter SR 23-8, issued under President Biden’s administration, had stipulated that state member banks of the Federal Reserve System engaging in dollar token activities had to inform and receive written notification of supervisory nonobjection from the board before engaging in the proposed activities.
Easing controls
There was further easing of controls as the board, together with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) also withdrew two 2023 statements on banks’ crypto activities that had been released in the wake of the Terra stablecoin crash.
In a statement it said: “The Board will work with the agencies to consider whether additional guidance to support innovation, including crypto-asset activities, is appropriate.”
The news comes just weeks after Republican lawmakers on the House Financial Services Committee called for the rescinding of several Biden-era financial regulations, citing concerns over their impact on competition, innovation and consumer access to digital payments and fintech services.
It marks the latest stage in the Trump administration’s reshaping of US crypto policy, which has seen strong, full-throated support for crypto-assets, together with a significant easing of his predecessor’s regulations.
There were a flurry of pro-crypto moves from the Trump administration in March, with an executive order establishing a strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a US digital asset stockpile.
In addition, the President hosted a high-profile inaugural digital assets summit at the White House the following day.
