Few details in crypto oversight ‘road map’

After months of behind-the-scenes discussions and public assurances that clarity was on the way, federal bank regulators unveiled a “road map” this week for overseeing cryptocurrencies and other digital assets in ways that would finally let banks hold, trade and lend against them.

The two-page document had one major problem: It contained no details about how to do any of that.

The statement — a product of the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. — identified broad areas where regulators had agreed they needed to make new rules, but it said little else.

“Throughout 2022, the agencies plan to provide greater clarity on whether certain activities related to crypto-assets conducted by banking organizations are legally permissible, and expectations for safety and soundness, consumer protection, and compliance with existing laws and regulations,” the regulators said in the statement.

Banks have been clamoring for more information about how they can safely participate in cryptocurrency markets. They have begun to complain that the absence of a clear set of rules is hampering their ability to compete with the upstart financial technology firms invading their space.

The OCC, which oversees nationally chartered banks, including Jpmorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, took an extra step on its own Tuesday, releasing a narrowly focused letter explaining how it should proceed when seeking to start offering customers cryptocurrency services. The letter made the procedure used by the earliest cryptocurrency adopters in dealings with the OCC an explicit requirement for future comers.