by Kevin S. Schwartz, David M. Adlerstein, and Ledina Gocaj
Left to right: Kevin S. Schwartz, David M. Adlerstein, and Ledina Gocaj (photos courtesy of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz)
In a significant shift, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) recently issued an interpretive letter empowering national banks to make their own business decisions related to cryptoasset products and services. The OCC guidance, which rescinds its prior-approval requirement for national banks to engage in cryptoasset activities, comes on the heels of an announcement that the FDIC is reassessing its own supervisory approach after disclosing “pause” letters that it had previously sent to 24 banks interested in crypto-related activities. Together, these developments signal an abrupt end to the bank regulators’ arbitrarily imposed ban on banks engaging in cryptoasset-related activities, an important step forward that we had endorsed.
