OCC Seeks Public Opinion On Possible Crypto Regulations

While the crypto world is seeing increased daily trading activity, lawmakers hurry to get their legislations right. The U.S Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) posted two issuances, which are available for public discussion. The two proposals, titled Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) and Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR), are aimed at modernizing the rules and requirements for banks in the modern economic situation.

Furthermore, ANPR seeks to boost the evolution of the traditional federal banking system, enabling it to be a support for businesses, consumers, and communities.

The proposals include updating or removing existing CFR 7 regulatory requirements, which became outdated due to the advancements in modern economy and finance. Regarding the crypto sector, the OCC is aiming its efforts in “activities, which are related to cryptocurrencies and crypto-assets, as well as the obstacles for mass adoption of crypto assets by banks and institutions.”

The ANPR is aimed at further developing NPR in the field of clarifying any misunderstandings during the public commenting stage.

Meanwhile, the two Notices describe that the adoption of crypto-related products and services by the U.S. population has increased.

“The first-ever cryptocurrency was born in 2009. Nowadays, over 1,000 cryptocurrency projects compete for a piece of the crypto market. Around eight percent of the Americans actually own cryptocurrencies.”

The OCC also noted that the introduction of PayPal in 1998 proliferated the mobile banking industry, as “49 percent of the Americans bank on their mobile phones, and 89 percent of the Millenials only use mobile banking.”

“Also, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, cloud computing, and other 21st-century technologies, are seeing mass adoption in the banking sector.”, the OCC stated.

The Notices impose questions about the usage of distributed ledger technology by banks and other financial institutions in terms of identity verification, monitoring, payment processing, as well as records management.

The U.S. OCC recently got support from the ex-General Counsel of crypto exchange Coinbase Brian Brooks. Brooks now operates as an Acting Comptroller from his former role as the Chief Operating Officer of the OCC. The role switch means Brian Brooks is now leading the OCC, which regulates the largest banks in the United States.

One of Brooks’ former ideas is to develop a national charter for payment providers like Stripe and PayPal.