The joint note from the governors shows a change in the Fed's tendency towards cryptocurrencies, opting for neutrality.
The United States Federal Reserve (FED) has presented a joint note from its board of governors, in which it points out some of the main risks of cryptocurrencies and, at the same time, allows US commercial banks to offer crypto services to their clients.
La detailed note that: “Banking organizations are not prohibited or deterred from providing banking services to customers of any type or class, as permitted by law or regulation.”
The text explains that, from the point of view of national agencies, it is very improbable that banking entities offer this type of services, since They do not consider them solid or safe.
In this way, although The Fed allows the issuance, holding, custody or transfer of cryptoassets, both on public and private networks, advises banks against doing so.
On the other hand, the FED also makes a distinction between those entities that really guard an asset and those that only maintain the private keys, leaving custody to third parties.
Therefore, it follows from the note that, although They advise against this type of services, as long as the bank offers sufficient security and solidity to its clients, it would have the green light to offer them.
The Fed is in line with the policies of the Bank for International Settlements
This position could be due to the fact that the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the banking entity that oversees central banks around the world, gave the green light for commercial banks to maintain between 1% and 2% of its Tier 1 capital en cryptocurrencies, .
The BIS also noted that banks can use cryptocurrencies as form of coverage, to protect themselves from international sanctions.
The international entity has not placed limits on cryptocurrency holdings in the case of stablecoins.
Is the future of banks in cryptocurrencies?
With the BIS favorable policies and the FED's neutral stance, it is possible that in 2023 the Crypto adoption by institutions worldwide is a trend, as people start talking about “secure integration” of cryptocurrencies into the traditional financial system and banks.
If the great ones Traditional banks want to continue competing with fintechs, they need to add to their stock, commodities and bond trading services, cryptocurrency trading or exchange, custody services and more.
The note published by the FED opens the doors to American commercial banks to offer sophisticated financial services related to Bitcoin, such as cash-settled Bitcoin futures.
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