PNC’s launch followed a July partnership with Coinbase to offer crypto services, signaling a shift toward bank-led crypto platforms rather than external exchanges.

Overall, the OCC move signals a transformative era where crypto assets and conventional banking practices begin to align, contingent on effective risk management, regulatory adherence, and sustained consumer trust.

The article emphasizes regulatory alignment and risk management rather than naming specific institutions or assets.

Banks must ensure crypto activities are legally permissible under their chartered powers and maintain procedures to monitor operational, compliance, and market risks, with counterparty credit and settlement risk as a primary concern in riskless principal transactions.

The move fits a Biden-administration trend toward more permissive digital asset regulation, contrasting with past pressure linked to Operation Choke Point 2.0 and noting that assets should not be treated differently from traditional banks.

The framework is seen as an opportunity for banks and crypto firms to collaborate, with banks pursuing federal charters for digital asset companies and potential long-term coexistence of crypto and traditional banking.

Traditional banks warn of systemic risks and an uneven playing field if regulation is loosened, highlighting the tension between innovation and safeguarding the financial system.

Institutions must develop robust compliance and security processes to adapt to evolving regulatory mandates and the dynamic digital asset market while preserving consumer and investor protections.

The US OCC issued an interpretive letter confirming that national banks may intermediate crypto trades as riskless principal transactions without holding crypto assets on their balance sheets, enabling regulated crypto brokerage services through banks.

The guidance distinguishes between securities and non-securities crypto assets; for securities, riskless principal transactions are already permissible, and the OCC extends similar logic to non-securities as part of the business of banking.

The OCC suggests this approach could let customers transact crypto assets through regulated banks rather than unregulated venues, expanding access to regulated crypto services.

This development aligns with a broader regulatory trend to ease crypto restrictions in traditional banking, including removing prior requirements for advance approvals for certain crypto operations.