The Federal Reserve does not prohibit nor discourage banks from providing banking services to any legal business, including cryptocurrency, Federal Reserve Vice Chairman for Supervision Michael Barr said today.
Barr gave a presentation on the Fed’s Novel Activities Program, which focuses on bank activities related to crypto-assets and nonbanks. Banking regulators have come under fire from policymakers and crypto industry representatives for allegedly pressuring banks not to offer services to the sector. FDIC Acting Chairman Travis Hill earlier this month released agency documents he said showed that to be the case.
Barr has previously disputed the allegation that the Fed is pressuring banks to shy away from crypto, and in his speech, he reiterated that argument.
“The Federal Reserve neither prohibits nor discourages banking organizations from providing banking services to customers of any specific class or type, as permitted by law or regulation,” Barr said. “It is up to banks to choose their own customers, and not supervisors. That has been and will continue to be our practice.”
Barr said the banks the Fed regulates provide important services to the crypto industry. “For example, banks supervised by the Fed operate real-time, 24/7 payment platforms that serve as a primary mechanism for companies to exchange dollars to settle crypto-asset transactions,” he said. “We monitor that activity from both a safety and soundness and financial stability lens, but we do not tell banks to serve or not serve those customers.”
