Fed Withdraws Crypto Guidance, Joins FDIC, OCC in Easing Rules

The Federal Reserve Board on Thursday withdrew its previous guidance to banks regarding their crypto-asset and stablecoin activities, joining the FDIC and the Comptroller of the Currency in relaxing crypto banking rules.

Specifically, the central bank withdrew its 2022 supervisory letter requiring state-member banks to inform the Fed in advance of any planned or current activity involving crypto assets. Going forward, the board said it would instead monitor banks’ crypto activity through the normal supervisory process.

The Fed said it was relaxing the rules to “ensure the Board’s expectations remain aligned with evolving risks and further support innovation in the banking system.”

The FDIC last month also clarified that banks “may engage in permissible activities, including activities involving new and emerging technologies such as crypto-assets and digital assets.” That followed a similar step by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. With the Fed’s announcement, all three federal bank regulators have now endorsed crypto activities by the institutions they supervise.

The Fed Thursday also joined FDIC and OCC in withdrawing a pair of 2023 joint statements regarding banks’ crypto-asset activities and exposures. “The Board will work with the agencies to consider whether additional guidance to support innovation, including crypto-asset activities, is appropriate,” it said in a statement.

Related: Binance Advises Governments on Crypto Rules and Digital Asset Reserves

The moves are in keeping with a broad shift toward a more crypto-friendly posture by the Trump administration compared to its predecessor. Earlier this month, acting SEC chair Mark Uyeda announced the financial regulator is working to establish a “time-limited, conditional exemptive relief framework for registrants and non-registrants could [to] allow for greater innovation with blockchain technology within the United States.” Uyeda’s Senate-confirmed replacement, Paul Atkins, a former SEC commissioner, served as co-chair of the Token Alliance, a crypto advocacy organization within the Chamber of Digital Commerce, before his return to the commission.

President Trump himself has also enthusiastically embraced crypto, releasing several crypto collectibles during the campaign. His latest venture, the $TRUMP memecoin, has brought in tens of millions of dollars, most of which has gone directly to Trump and the Trump family, raising eyebrows in Washington over its propriety. This week, the Trump team invited the top 220 $TRUMP coin holders to a private dinner with the president at the Trump National Golf Club in Washington, raising further questions about his personal crypto activity while in office.

“This isn’t Trump just being Trump. The Trump coin scam is the most brazenly corrupt thing a President has ever done. Not close,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) posted on X.

The Federal Reserve is an independent agency and is not part of the administration.