The office of the U.S. Treasury that handles banks has issued a determination on the long-debated subject of custodying crypto assets<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Per a July 22 announcement shared with Cointelegraph, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is granting permission to federally chartered banks to custody cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This issue has seen much skepticism, given that crypto wallets do not resemble the custody requirements of other sorts of assets. Nonetheless, in its interpretive letter on the subject, the OCC wrote: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe OCC recognizes that, as the financial markets become increasingly technological, there will likely be increasing need for banks and other service providers to leverage new technology and innovative ways to provide traditional services on behalf of customers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the words of the announcement, the new opinion \u201capplies to national banks and federal savings associations of all sizes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks similarly saw the development as part of modernizing banking in the U.S., saying \u201cFrom safe-deposit boxes to virtual vaults, we must ensure banks can meet the financial services needs of their customers today,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The OCC\u2019s letter further specifies that bank \u201ccustody\u201d of crypto assets is dependent on their access to the keys to the crypto wallets rather than any sort of physical requirement \u2014 a confirmation of Andreas Antonopoulos\u2019 famous line of \u201cnot your keys, not your coins.\u201d the OCC specifies:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat national banks may escrow encryption keys used in connection with digital certificates because a key escrow service is a functional equivalent to physical safekeeping.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coming from Coinbase\u2019s legal team, Brian Brook\u2019s tenure as Acting Comptroller has seen accelerated onboarding of crypto capabilities in the U.S. financial system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking with Cointelegraph in early June<\/a>, Brooks hinted at his interest in expanding the right to custody crypto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n