November 23, 2021

Agencies issue joint statement on crypto-asset policy initiative and next steps

• Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
• Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

For release at 11:30 a.m. EST

Federal bank regulatory agencies today issued a statement summarizing their interagency "policy sprints" focused on crypto-assets and providing a roadmap of future work related to crypto-assets.

In particular, the statement describes the focus of the preliminary work conducted through the sprints undertaken by the agencies. It summarizes the agencies' plan to provide greater clarity throughout 2022 on whether certain crypto-related activities conducted by banking organizations are legally permissible, and related expectations for safety and soundness, consumer protection, and compliance with existing law and regulations.

The emerging crypto-asset sector presents potential opportunities and risks to banking organizations, their customers, and the overall financial system. The interagency sprints quickly advanced and built on agencies' combined knowledge, which helped identify and assess key issues related to potential crypto-asset activities conducted by banking organizations.

The statement from the agencies does not alter any existing agency rules or regulations.