Banks in the US have obtained new steering from the Workplace of the Comptroller of the Foreign money (OCC), now letting them act as intermediaries in bitcoin transactions.
This transfer is a part of broader efforts by the Trump administration to bridge the hole between conventional finance and the bitcoin sector.
OCC steering on bitcoin transactions
The OCC’s newest directive states that banks might take part in so-called “riskless principal” transactions involving bitcoin.
In these preparations, banks operate as brokers: they buy bitcoin from one counterparty and promote to a different in a simultaneous transaction, with out holding the asset in stock besides in uncommon instances.
The OCC clarified that such actions is not going to be topic to heightened regulatory scrutiny.
Coverage shifts beneath Trump administration
President Donald Trump has taken a notably open stance towards the bitcoin trade.
His administration has been actively rewriting laws and eradicating guardrails that beforehand restricted financial institution involvement in bitcoin-related actions.
The OCC had already rolled again necessities set beneath President Joe Biden, together with steering that compelled banks to hunt prior approval earlier than partaking within the sector.
Elevated integration of banking and bitcoin
Critics have raised considerations that the rising interconnection between the banking system and the largely unregulated bitcoin market may introduce systemic dangers.
Nonetheless, the brand new steering represents a major rest of earlier restrictions, probably paving the way in which for larger institutional involvement within the house.