US Crypto & Public Policy Watch — Fed To Banks: High Bar To Secure Permission For Crypto-Related Activities

Brai Odion-Esene
4 min readFeb 3

The Federal Reserve Board has issued a policy statement aimed at all banks with a federal regulator, making clear that uninsured and insured banks — referred to as state member banks (SMBs) — supervised by the Fed Board are subject to the same limitations on activities, including offering crypto-asset-related services.

“The Board would presumptively prohibit SMBs from holding most crypto-assets as principal, and also would provide that any SMB seeking

Brai Odion-Esene

Founder — SW4 Insights. Public policy junkie and Central Bank Watcher. Recovering journalist and former Senior Director at Hamilton Place Strategies