Custody pioneer Anchorage is the first crypto firm to see a charter from the U.S. national bank regulator. Per a Wednesday announcement from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Anchorage will have conditional authorization to operate as a trust institution nationally. The charter is the first of its kind, part of an idea of a "fintech charter" stretching back to the Obama years, but which has been accelerated under the leadership of Acting Comptroller Brian Brooks, formerly of Coinbase's legal team. Per the announcement, Anchorage's continued charter will hinge upon unique requirements: "As an enforceable condition of approval, …

The departing leader of the United States Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is convinced that the future of finance is blockchain-native, per a conversation with crypto analytics firm Elliptic on Wednesday. Described by Elliptic CEO Simone Maini as "a fairy godfather to the crypto industry," Brian Brooks has been a leading light in U.S. federal policy toward crypto since taking over for Comptroller Joseph Otting in May 2020. Today, he outlined views that follow an opinion piece he wrote for the Financial Times yesterday. Namely, Brooks took the opportunity to promote his vision of an OCC that checks …

In an opinion piece published in the Financial Times on Tuesday, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks put forward the need to reconfigure banking regulations for an age of algorithms. Brooks, who currently leads the Treasury's Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, compared existing banking regulations to traffic laws. He further used the analogy of self-driving cars for new steps in decentralized finance. "Just as the original rules of the road protected us from other drivers, so our current bank regulations exist mainly to prevent human failings," wrote Brooks. The overall tone of Brook's letter is confident that …

Eight states and the District of Columbia are suing the national bank regulator over a rule change that just came into effect. Per a Jan. 5 filing, New York's attorney general is leading the charge against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and current Acting Comptroller Brian Brooks. Back in October, the OCC laid out its "True Lender" rule, which took effect at the end of December. The rule dictates that a loan that includes a national bank as a lender can therefore rely on the OCC's national guidance rather than that of individual states. The controversy here …

Unicas, a joint venture between Indian online crypto banking platform Cashaa and United Multistate Credit Co-op Society, has launched a physical crypto bank branch in Jaipur, India. Back in October, Multistate announced plans to offer both online and physical crypto banking services across its 34 locations in northern India. Users will be able to access both fiat and crypto-asset services at the bank. Unicas will also provide instant digital loans with cryptocurrencies as collateral. According to a Cashaa blog post on Dec. 28, the physical crypto bank branch in Jaipur is part of an initial rollout in 14 locations across …

A leading association of state banking regulators is trying to put the U.S. national banking regulator in its place on the issue of fintech registration. Per a Dec. 22 filing, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, or CSBS, says the impending approval of Figure Technology's bank charter a bridge too far. Figure operates blockchain-backed lending and investment services. It announced its application to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a charter at the beginning of November. At the time, CEO Mike Cagney noted the relative convenience of a national charter, saying:"we'll have over 200 state licenses next …

Following a Citi report downgrading business intelligence firm Microstrategy’s stock to a “sell” rating, analysts for popular trading website the Motley Fool have recommended a lesser-known bank stock that also has an emphasis on cryptocurrencies. Last Tuesday, Citi analyst Tyler Radke downgraded Microstrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) shortly after the firm announced a debt purchase that would bring its Bitcoin holdings up to a nearly $1 billion mark. The report chided the company, which at points has seen share prices more than triple from $92 yearly lows, for its “disproportionate” focus on bolstering its BTC holdings, and said that the current run is …

Goldman Sachs is reportedly one of several financial institutions to sign on to JPMorgan’s custom blockchain service — a sign that more broker-dealers were looking to take advantage of digital currencies for their repo operations. In an interview with Bloomberg, Scott Lucas, head of blockchain markets at JPMorgan, said the investment bank is already using blockchain to conduct billions of dollars worth of repurchase agreements. The bank utilizes JPM Coin, a dollar-backed stablecoin, to swap digitized U.S. Treasury bonds much more efficiently. As Bloomberg notes, JPMorgan conducted the first live trades internally utilizing its Onyx blockchain infrastructure. That was enough …

As internet banking comes of age, so too do new ways of stealing funds. That makes cybersecurity central to modern banking, according to David Leach, JPMorgan Chase’s Asia-Pacific head of cybersecurity and technology controls. "It’s a competitive disadvantage not to have a robust cybersecurity capability that you can demonstrate,” Leach said during a BlockShow conference panel on Tuesday. Before the internet took over, customers mainly asked about banking and financial entities’ services, not about their security, according to panel moderator, Nasir Zubairi, CEO of the Luxembourg House of Financial Technology. Zubairi also holds experience in the banking industry. Leach said …

The U.S. Treasury's Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is expanding an outreach program designed to provide access to minority depository institutions, or MDIs. Per a Thursday announcement shared with Cointelegraph, the OCC's Project REACh is expanding to include a pledge of large and mid-sized banks partnering with MDIs. The pledge requires the partner bank to expand investment and support for executive development at the MDI that it works with. MDIs are simply banks or credit unions that are majority-owned by ethnic or racial minorities. They are seen as critical to expanding financial inclusion to minority groups left out …

Alfa-Bank, one of the largest private commercial banks in Russia, is exploring blockchain technology in its services for freelancers. According to a Dec. 1 announcement, Alfa-Bank will use blockchain-based applications to automate services for freelancers and self-employed workers. Based on Waves Enterprise’s blockchain platform, Alfa-Bank’s new service covers the entire process of registration and remuneration for self-employed individuals, including payments settlement, income registration and tax payments. Denis Dodon, director of Alfa-Bank’s research and development center, told Cointelegraph that the new blockchain-based service enables freelancers to get direct remuneration via any bank: “DLT and embedded smart contracts with an end-to-end integration …

Every once in a while, the crypto community crowns a new king for secure transactions, and the latest king seems to be multiparty computation, or MPC. This year, MPC adoption by custodial and noncustodial players has progressed and gained market traction at a rapid pace. However, it could come at a price. MPC providers offer regulators a backdoor into cryptocurrency transactions. As the industry becomes more reliant on MPC for security, it could end up compromising on the long-held principles of decentralization and censorship-resistance. The hidden features of MPC In order to identify where the risks exist, let’s briefly recap …