US Regulator Clears Banks to Act as Crypto Intermediaries in Riskless Transactions
A US national bank regulator has confirmed that banks can act as intermediaries in “riskless principal” crypto transactions, positioning them closer to broker-style roles in the digital asset market.
In these deals, a bank buys crypto from one party and simultaneously sells it to another, holding little or no asset exposure on its own balance sheet except in limited cases.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) said such activities will not be treated as novel or presumptively unsafe, easing a layer of regulatory friction that had discouraged banks from participating in crypto flows. The move aims to narrow the gap between traditional finance and crypto trading infrastructure while keeping banks within a risk…
