US banks have reached out to crypto custodians like Anchorage and COINBASE to use their services. According to the chairman of the OCC, banks could try to buy up companies that offer crypto custody services.
By Shaukat Goraya
Brian Brooks, who was appointed as the new chairman of the US Office of the Comptroller (OCC) in June of this year, once again caused a sensation in the crypto world with a statement. As the top banking supervisor revealed in Laura Shin's Unchained Podcast, US banks are currently looking for ways to offer Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
As reported by CNF, the American Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) published a letter in July that made it clear that all approved banks in the US are allowed to offer custody services for cryptocurrencies. The supervisory authority paved the way for US banks to enter the crypto market.
In the recently published interview with Laura Shin, Brooks shared his insights into how US banks began exploring the adoption of cryptocurrencies. Shin also addressed bank uncertainty, asking Brooks if he had seen any change in the attitudes of major financial institutions towards cryptocurrencies since the letter was released.
Brooks then dropped the bomb, explaining that, to the best of his knowledge, banks had approached crypto custodians like Anchorage and Coinbase for their services:
“Well what I heard on the rumor mill, and I'll bet a lot of your listeners heard the same thing, is that since our letter came out, a number of major crypto custodians - Anchorage, Coinbase, and a number of other banks - have been contacted to inquire about find out whether they would be willing to be like the third-party custodians for national banks whose customers want to invest in Bitcoin.“
Brooks also speculated that due to the complexities of custody of Bitcoin, banks will attempt to partner with or buy out custodians to manage the cryptocurrencies they hold.
“[...] in a world where institutional investors are looking for a qualified custodian for their bitcoins and everything else, I think it is quite likely that the trajectory will be such that the banks do not want to build their own custody capacity. This is very complex technically, but they will either buy crypto custodians or want to partner with crypto custodians to perform these services on their behalf, and they can do that legally now.“
Brooks also said that the move by US banks to offer Bitcoin and Co. will significantly increase the willingness of small investors to invest in Bitcoin and will lead to further profits for the BTC course.
“Wenn also eine Durchschnittsperson es fur klug halt, 50 Basispunkte ihres Nettovermogens in Krypto zu halten, was, wie Sie wissen, viele Investitionsberater fur eine kluge Allokation halten, wird sie sich in dem Wissen, dass JPMorgan der Verwahrer ihres Kryptos ist, viel sicherer fuhlen, als das Gefuhl zu haben, dass der Verwahrer irgendeine Einheit in South Dakota ist, von der sie noch nie etwas gehort haben. Ich denke also, die Nachfrage wird spurbar steigen.“
