Bank groups ask crypto czar David Sacks to revise rules

Six major banking associations sent a letter to the White House Crypto Czar David Sacks calling on the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets to revise rules that prevent banks from working with cryptocurrencies. 

By not doing so, the letter argues, “the United States will not be able to achieve a leadership position in digital assets and financial technology under the status quo.”

The Bank Policy Institute, American Bankers Association, Financial Services Forum, SIFMA, Association of Global Custodians and the Clearing House Association in the letter asked the working group to “rescind or substantially revise” statements and guidance documents issued by the federal banking agencies.

The policy statements, which include guidance issued by the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, as well as two released jointly by all three, “have significant implications for U.S. banks’ ability to engage in digital asset-related activity and otherwise support the digital asset sector, including by engaging with crypto firms on a variety of basic banking activities and services.”

“Specific policies and guidance issued by the federal banking agencies that ‘affect the digital asset sector’ have made it exceedingly difficult for banks to engage in digital asset related activities, despite the clear legal authority of banks to do [so],” the letter reads.

The letter also points out that several key federal banking agencies, including the FRB, OCC and FDIC, are not members of the Presidential Working Group. 

“Given that banks’ involvement in digital asset related activities is critical to helping the United States cement its leadership position in the global digital assets ecosystem, we urge you to reconsider their involvement,” the letter reads.

Their inclusion “is imperative” in order for the White House to “develop a comprehensive digital assets framework for all market participants and advance one of the administration’s priorities to ‘support the responsible growth and use of digital assets, blockchain technology, and related technologies across all sectors of the economy.'”

Once a crypto skeptic, President Donald Trump has wholeheartedly embraced digital assets. Even before beginning his second term, Trump vowed to be the first “crypto president” and promised he’d make the United States the “crypto capital of the world.” Trump launched his own memecoin $TRUMP hours before taking office.

Trump signed an executive order forming the working group led by Sacks during his first week in office. The order outlined rules for the development and use of cryptocurrencies in the U.S.