PANews reported on February 4 that according to Cointelegraph, Coinbase sent a letter today to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Reserve (Fed) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), asking regulators to confirm whether banks can freely provide services to cryptocurrency companies and clarify the status of banking services in the crypto industry.
In the letter, Coinbase asked the OCC to withdraw an interpretive letter that was considered to "effectively set a new application process for banking activities" and restrict banks from entering the crypto asset market. Coinbase also asked the Federal Reserve and the FDIC to confirm whether state-chartered banks are allowed to provide crypto custody and execution services and outsource them to third-party service providers.
According to Bloomberg, Coinbase said that existing federal law already authorizes banks to provide crypto services and work with third-party service providers, such as Coinbase. However, regulators still need to confirm this. To this end, Coinbase also invited three law firms to support this claim. Coinbase Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad said: "Regulators need to make it clear that banks can work with third parties to provide customers with crypto trading and exchange services."
The issue of U.S. banks servicing the crypto industry has been controversial. While banks like BNY Mellon have begun offering crypto custody services, there have also been reports that the FDIC has approached several U.S. banks to suspend crypto-related activities. In June 2024, Coinbase filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the FDIC, accusing the agencies of "jointly attempting to exclude crypto asset companies from basic banking services." In the ongoing legal battle, Coinbase Legal Director Paul Grewal reiterated the accusation in January 2025, arguing that the FDIC deliberately concealed crypto-related "suspension letters" in the Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.
