FDIC joins U.S. pro-crypto shift

Specifically, it’s looking to replace guidance it issued in 2022, requiring banks to inform the regulator about their crypto-related activities, given that these “activities may pose significant safety and soundness risks, as well as financial stability and consumer protection concerns.”

In its place, the agency now aims to establish “a pathway for institutions to engage in crypto- and blockchain-related activities while still adhering to safety and soundness principles,” Hill said.

The statement came as the FDIC also published a batch of documents, which were due to be released under Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) orders, detailing the regulator’s past communications with banks that sought to engage in crypto activities — which, he said, highlights the regulatory hostility banks have faced from the agency.

“The documents that we are releasing today show that requests from these banks were almost universally met with resistance, ranging from repeated requests for further information, to multi-month periods of silence as institutions waited for responses, to directives from supervisors to pause, suspend, or refrain from expanding all crypto- or blockchain-related activity,” Hill said.

Along with revising its approach to the crypto sector, the FDIC has also signalled it will undertake a comprehensive review to ensure that its rules “promote a vibrant, growing economy,” including changes to capital and liquidity rules to favour growth; revising the approval process for bank mergers; and, withdrawing contentious regulatory proposals in areas such as corporate governance and brokered deposits.

The regulator will also act to ensure that it “remains within our statutory mandates, and stops coloring outside the lines,” Hill said.