News Topic: Cryptocurrencies

In a sharp escalation of the battle over the future of the dual banking system, the acting chief of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency suggested that states should defer to federal authority in supervising global money transmitters. ... Read full article

Caitlin Long, a former Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse managing director, is starting a special-purpose depository institution that will provide payment and custody services to institutional investors and corporate treasurers. ... Read full article

Appearing to support decentralized systems, the acting comptroller of the currency said on a podcast that "the ultimate public ownership of the payment rails is when you have a network, like the internet, of interconnected institutions and ... Read full article

Major payment companies have long looked on at cryptocurrencies as too risky to touch, but too tempting to ignore. Mastercard's latest move indicates that the card brands are ready to make a firm pitch for crypto spending. ... Read full article

Responding to an unnamed bank that had sought the opinion, the regulatory agency issued an interpretive letter clarifying that an institution's custody services can be used for cryptographic keys and other digital currency-related assets. ... Read full article

The push for a public option to digitize government payments has gotten stronger, and the discussion has moved on from whether it should happen to how it should happen. ... Read full article

Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks says financial institutions are needed more than ever to “sustain existing businesses” and help entrepreneurs rebuild. Meanwhile, reforming the Community Reinvestment Act, he says, can “unblock opportunities” ... Read full article

The agency sought industry feedback on a host of potential changes to ensure that rules are “sufficiently flexible and clear in light of the technological advances that have transformed the financial industry over the past two decades." ... Read full article

Competition over virtual currency could alter politics and global power structures, potentially to the detriment of the U.S., the author of "The Currency Cold War" argues. ... Read full article

The move is the first time the bank has provided services to digital currency players; the Washington Post and four other heavy hitters want details on PPP and small business disaster loan programs. ... Read full article

Stuart Levey, HSBC’s chief counsel and a former U.S. Treasury undersecretary, will head the cryptocurrency project; lender groups say the demands of those small business loans are not so easy to meet. ... Read full article

Facebook and its partners are considering redesigning the Libra cryptocurrency project so that the network accepts multiple coins, including those issued by central banks, in an effort to woo reluctant global regulators and rebuild momentum for the plan. ... Read full article

The Treasury secretary’s recent Senate testimony coming down on cryptocurrencies is misguided. Regulations should require building better blockchain technology at the banks. ... Read full article

The Treasury secretary's statements are a sign that government agencies are still in the early stages of understanding this fundamentally new technology. ... Read full article

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reaffirmed his agency’s skepticism of a Community Reinvestment Act plan proposed by other regulators, and said the Fed has an important role to ensure banks “are resilient against the longer-term risks from climate ... Read full article

The bank’s former Asia investment banking co-chief is its third executive to be so punished; the agency says Telegram’s digital coin is a security. ... Read full article

Criminals are filling the void left by lax U.S. regulation of cryptocurrencies. ... Read full article

Terrorism financing schemes using cryptocurrencies are growing in sophistication, according to researcher Chainalysis, which helps law enforcement track digital-coin transactions. ... Read full article