The U.S. Financial Regulatory Authority officially allows banks to hold Crypto Assets... limited to paying gas fees.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has officially approved banks to hold certain Crypto Assets. This decision is limited to network fees, commonly referred to as “Gas fees.”

OCC clearly stated in the guidelines released on the 1st that banks within the United States may hold crypto assets for the purpose of paying network fees, but this must be limited to transactions for legal purposes. The OCC pointed out that “chartered national banks may hold crypto assets in principle, and the quantity must be limited to what is necessary to meet the testing requirements of approved crypto asset-related platforms.”

This move means that banks can directly hold Crypto Assets and pay network fees, and industry evaluations suggest that this to some extent eliminates the existing regulatory uncertainty.

But OCC emphasizes that banks engaging in such activities must conduct relevant operations in a “safe and sound manner” and strictly comply with applicable laws and regulations.

This announcement is interpreted as a measure to ease the restrictions on the application of Crypto Assets in the U.S. banking industry. Against the backdrop of rising institutional demand for major Crypto Assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum, the industry believes that this creates conditions for banks to more actively experiment with and introduce digital asset technology.