In testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, Michael Hsu said some past crypto initiatives had not been done “in coordination with all stakeholders.”
The White House and Congress have yet to offer policy clarity for the crypto industry. Their agenda isn't focused on innovation and growth.
“It really comes down to coordinating across the agencies,” said the acting comptroller. "There is interest in coordinating a lot more of these things.”
The SEC chair continued to highlight investor protection as he previewed the regulator’s cryptocurrency enforcement efforts.
The U.S. regulator said it did not send the messages or hold any funds for individual benefit.
Sherrod Brown specifically pointed to the OCC trust charters granted to Paxos, Protego and Anchorage.
"Prior to this meeting, Vice Chair Quarles, Chair McWilliams and I had talked about potentially putting together an interagency policy sprint team just on crypto because of exactly the concerns you've described," Hsu said.
"We created an Office of Innovation, updated the framework for chartering national banks and trust companies, and interpreted crypto custody services as part of the business of banking. I have asked staff to review these actions," Acting Comptroller Michael Hsu said.
Last year, Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard announced the Boston branch of the U.S. central bank was exploring a digital dollar. She’ll be speaking next week at Consensus.
Hsu was part of the Fed's bank supervision division. Brooks, now CEO of Binance.US, pushed crypto-friendly rules while in D.C.
Paxos earns a provisional trust charter through the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
The OCC published a number of crypto-friendly pieces of guidance last year. The next head of this banking regulator could undo this work.
The NCUA could look at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's crypto guidance as an example, Kyle Hauptman said.
The round in the crypto custodian was led by GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund.
The conditional approval from the U.S. banking regulator follows Anchorage's approval last month.