According to people familiar with the matter, in the last few days of former US President Trump’s term, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) quietly decided that banks can legally trade cryptocurrencies on behalf of customers.
This decision, which has never been made public, can open the door for banks to carry out a series of activities in the hot virtual currency market. According to people familiar with the matter, in January this year, the OCC’s Office of Chief Legal Counsel determined that once the bank arranges a buyer or seller on the other end of the transaction, the bank is legally allowed to temporarily hold cryptocurrency in order to conduct transactions for its customers. This decision was part of the subsequent deliberations for the initial franchise approval of the crypto trust bank Paxos, even though the company currently does not hold cryptocurrency in its own account.