Happy Wednesday, Blockfolio!
The Lede
Crypto custodian Anchorage has become the first crypto company to receive a national trust charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, letting it lay claim to the title of first crypto bank.
The OCC has been on a regulatory tear over the past 9 months, issuing guidance that has opened up federally regulated financial institutions to much deeper integration with blockchains, crypto custody and stablecoins.
The advantages for Anchorage to become a national bank are huge, not least in the fact that they don’t have to apply separately for money transmitter licenses in every state.
Unfortunately, the person responsible for many of these changes, the current acting director of the OCC, Brian Brooks, appears ready to resign this week as a new administration takes power. Congresswoman Maxine Waters has asked President-elect Biden to undo all of the OCC’s previous guidance, so things could get interesting.
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Highly Relevant Reading
The burgeoning of alt season?
ECB’s Christine Lagarde says bitcoin needs global regulation
A twist! Japan’s securities regulator says XRP not a security
Billionaire Howard Marks says his son owns a significant amount of bitcoin for the family
Community Commentary
A lot of chatter about a potential Gary Gensler SEC
Ummm yup.
A Really Big Number We Should Be Paying Attention To
$58.2M
That’s the PROFIT one trader made on a $638k bet that bitcoin would hit $36,000 in January. That’s a 9,118% return.
Final Thought
Going mainstream?