Banks Can Offer Crypto Custody Services, OCC Says

Tired: Custodian services for safekeeping securities
Wired: Custodian services for safekeeping digital assets

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (I’m sorry about that name) has cleared the way for nationally chartered U.S. banks to take cryptocurrency deposits. Now you don’t need to keep your private key under your mattress.

The OCC’s decision allows banks to hold digital assets for customers. It requires a bit of mental gymnastics for banks used to traditional assets.

• “A bank ‘holding’ digital currencies on behalf of a customer is actually taking possession of the cryptographic access keys to that unit of cryptocurrency,” the OCC wrote.

Information superhighway x Wall Street

The OCC wrote that the move represents a modernized form of banking services. Regulators are becoming more innovation-friendly—Brian Brooks, the acting comptroller, was formerly the chief legal officer of Coinbase.

Big picture: Coinbase is eyeing an IPO; JPMorgan recently extended banking services to the exchange as well as Gemini, a competitor. Blink and you’ll miss new cryptocurrency on-ramps for investors who haven’t hodl’ed before (misspelling intentional).