FDIC and CFTC Revoke Previous Crypto-Related Guidelines

The FDIC and CFTC have both been working to change previous crypto guidelines. As federal regulators reconcile with the industry, they are removing old rules that specifically target crypto.

The former institution is removing the requirement that banks report crypto business, while the latter holds crypto to the same standards as other industries.

FDIC and CFTC Change Crypto Policies

The FDIC is one of the top financial regulators in the US, and it’s turning over a new leaf. After being one of the principal architects of Operation Choke Point 2.0, it recently began declassifying documents and changing rules that allowed crypto debanking.

Today, the agency is revoking a 2022 directive that impacted banks’ interactions with crypto:

“With today’s action, the FDIC is turning the page on the flawed approach of the past three years. I expect this to be one of several steps the FDIC will take to lay out a new approach for how banks can engage in crypto- and blockchain-related activities in accordance with safety and soundness standards,” said FDIC Acting Chairman Travis Hill.

Specifically, it rescinded a rule that mandated that all banks and institutions under its supervision notify the FDIC of any crypto involvement. The new guideline claims that banks “may engage in permissible crypto-related activities without receiving prior FDIC approval” without enacting any other policies.

Since Gary Gensler left the SEC, all the top US financial regulators have been trying to rework their relationship with crypto. In an apparent coincidence, the CFTC made a very similar move to the FDIC by rescinding two crypto guidelines.

Both of these actions did not establish a new policy; they merely removed the old ones.

Essentially, both of the CFTC’s rule changes are set to ensure that crypto-related derivatives are subject to the same requirements as non-crypto ones. This is somewhat surprising, considering that the industry has typically tried to insist that it necessitates specific regulations.

However, this is largely beside the point. The FDIC and CFTC are both working to remove previous guidelines that opposed the crypto industry.

These institutions will undoubtedly be amenable to creating new ones in the spirit of cooperation. In the meantime, this olive branch can help build a lot of goodwill.