Today, the OCC released an interpretive letter concluding that national banks and federal savings associations (together, “banks”) may permissibly provide cryptocurrency custody services for customers. The letter, written by Chief Counsel Jonathan Gould, describes custody of cryptocurrency as a modern form of the traditional banking activity of providing safekeeping and custody services, which the agency … Continue Reading
On July 23, the New York State Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) announced a new Research and Innovation Division. The Division will assume responsibility for licensing and supervising virtual currencies. It will also “assess efforts to use technology to address financial exclusion; identify and protect consumer data rights; and encourage innovations in the financial services … Continue Reading
Bank-fintech partnerships are good for consumers and banks, as I recently explained in testimony to Congress during a hearing on the opportunities and challenges in the fintech marketplace. Consumers benefit because banks are able to use fintech to deliver safer, more transparent, lower cost and more convenient financial products and services to consumers over the … Continue Reading
The European Commission (“EC”) has stated that the almost limitless list of potential use cases of distributed ledger technology (“DLT”) makes it both very promising and challenging, and has expressed its support for blockchain and DLT.[1] However, many European institutions are still of the opinion that the technology is at its early stage of development, … Continue Reading
