The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a regulatory proposal that seeks to ensure that crypto businesses enjoy the same facilities when it comes to having a bank account as any other legitimate endeavors. The OCC wants to end the silent discrimination against crypto businesses.
According to the US regulator, instead of using general considerations towards all crypto businesses, banks should now evaluate each company individually. Crypto businesses, not just in the USA but in many other countries, also face discriminatory practices.
The regulatory proposal seeks to provide a better way to evaluate the risk involved.
The “Fair Access to Financial Services” proposal by the OCC seeks to provide a better way to evaluate the risk of certain businesses like fintech, exchanges, payment protocols, lending and custody services, etc. In order to ensure that banks provide customers with fair access to financial services, and consistent with longstanding OCC policy, a bank’s decision not to serve a particular customer must be based on an individual risk management decision about that individual customer, not on the fact that the customer operates in an industry subject to a broad categorical exclusion created by the bank, according to the OCC.
Crypto regulations in most countries remain in a grey area.
Cryptocurrency-related regulations in most countries are still in a grey area as lawmakers continue to issue guidelines and propose regulations. Crypto regulations remain a hot topic in the crypto community as lawmakers around the world try to tackle the newly emerging space. Currently, crypto regulations in most countries are in a grey area. However, lawmakers and financial regulators are working to ensure decisions are made for the public interest. Since Facebook announced its stablecoin project Libra last year, lawmakers worldwide have started to take the crypto industry more seriously.
