OCC confirms that banks can conduct encryption business and eliminate additional approval requirements

Wu learned that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued Interpretive Letter 1183, reiterating that the federal banking system can engage in activities such as encryption asset custody, specific Stable Coin business, and Distributed Ledger Node validation, and removing the requirement for banks to obtain regulatory non-objection before participating in related businesses. Acting Comptroller Rodney E. Hood stated that OCC requires banks to maintain the same Risk Management standards as traditional businesses when engaging in new activities, while reducing the Compliance burden for banks involved in encryption activities. OCC also withdrew its previous statement on the risks of encryption assets to the banking industry jointly issued with other institutions.