OCC Clarifies That Federally Chartered Banks and Thrifts May Engage in Certain Stablecoin Activities

On September 21, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) published an interpretive letter clarifying the authority of national banks and federal savings associations to hold “reserves” on behalf of customers who issue certain stablecoins (cryptocurrency backed by an asset such as a fiat currency, including U.S. dollars or other foreign currency). The letter concludes that national banks and federal savings associations may hold “reserves” on behalf of customers who issue stablecoins, in situations where the coins are held in hosted wallets. The letter addresses the use of stablecoins backed by a single fiat currency on a one-to-one basis where the bank verifies at least daily that reserve account balances meet or exceed the number of the issuer’s outstanding stablecoins.