US regulators to prepare guidelines on Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies in 2022

The Federal Reserve System (Fed) together with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) have released a 2022 Agenda with a focus on storage, cryptocurrency-backed loans and capital standardisation.

2022 Agenda 

Recently, the Fed, FDIC and OCC have released a 2022 agenda. The agencies are planning to further focus on crypto. They have already identified a number of issues that have to be looked into and clarified.

The crypto sprint, which started in May, will continue in 2022. The efforts are aimed at identifying the areas of responsibility for each regulator and establishing a mechanism for cooperation.

“The inter-agency sprints quickly advanced and built on agencies’ combined knowledge, which helped identify and assess key issues related to potential crypto-asset activities conducted by banking organisations,” regulators stated.

@federalreserve @FDICgov @USOCC issue joint statement on crypto-asset policy initiative and next steps: https://t.co/3wGwBsZ7C0

— Federal Reserve (@federalreserve) November 23, 2021

Details

To date, the agencies have developed an agreed set of terms, identified key risks and analysed how existing rules and guidelines can be applied. The Group intends to issue clarifications regarding the types of activities related to cryptocurrencies that are legally permissible for banks.

The guidelines will also reflect expectations regarding safety and reliability, consumer protection and compliance with existing laws and regulations related to:

– Crypto-asset custody

– Facilitation of customer crypto-assets transactions

– Loans collateralised by crypto-assets

– Payments, including stablecoins

– Holding of crypto-assets on a bank’s balance sheet

Considering the fact that the officials are seeking ways to regulate tokens that are more similar to bank assets, the new set of regulations is much awaited.

The president’s Working Group on Financial Markets insists that Congress pass a law limiting the right to issue stablecoins to regulated banks.

It’s unclear whether the three banking agencies will be able to come to agreement. The group still doesn’t have a leader, and the Biden administration has not yet appointed a Vice Chairman to lead the Fed’s oversight work. In November, the president’s Working Group on Financial Markets published a report listing the risks associated with stablecoins and recommended to equate asset issuers to banks.