{"id":12425,"date":"2021-01-08T16:45:47","date_gmt":"2021-01-08T11:15:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/?p=12425"},"modified":"2021-01-08T16:45:47","modified_gmt":"2021-01-08T11:15:47","slug":"how-the-occ-made-crypto-payments-mainstream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/in\/blog\/how-the-occ-made-crypto-payments-mainstream","title":{"rendered":"How the OCC made Crypto Payments Mainstream"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_66_1 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-light-blue ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/in\/blog\/how-the-occ-made-crypto-payments-mainstream\/#What_does_this_mean_for_cryptocurrency\" title=\"What does this mean for cryptocurrency?\">What does this mean for cryptocurrency?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/in\/blog\/how-the-occ-made-crypto-payments-mainstream\/#The_news_may_not_all_be_as_rosy_as_it_seems\" title=\"The news may not all be as rosy as it seems.\">The news may not all be as rosy as it seems.<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n<p><strong>This week has been BIG for crypto, with Bitcoin up 23.9% over the past seven days, while Ether has jumped 56.8%. But the week\u2019s biggest win may be in the form of new legislation. On Monday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued an interpretive letter that could <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.occ.gov\/news-issuances\/news-releases\/2021\/nr-occ-2021-2.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\"><strong>help make crypto payments mainstream<\/strong><\/a><strong>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>To put it simply, a federal regulator has said banks are free to conduct payments using stablecoins like <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/in\/buy-tether\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>USDT<\/strong><\/a><strong> and <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/in\/buy-dai\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>DAI<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The OCC is an independent branch of the US Treasury, which regulates national banks and federal savings associations. Interestingly, Brian Brooks, who formerly led Coinbase&#8217;s legal team, has been the Acting Comptroller of the Currency since May 2020.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Interpretive letters, like the one issued this week, offer a blueprint for banks to follow. The letter makes this clear, noting that, as financial intermediaries, banks face competition to move funds faster. In the OCC\u2019s view, blockchain technology, or \u201cindependent node verification networks (INVNs)&#8221; are the newest advancement in fund transfer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The letter also makes it clear that a bank may issue stablecoins and exchange them for fiat.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Blockchain Association noted:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>&#8220;The letter states that blockchains have the same status as other global financial networks, such as SWIFT, ACH, and FedWire.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-does-this-mean-for-cryptocurrency\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_does_this_mean_for_cryptocurrency\"><\/span><strong>What does this mean for cryptocurrency?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cWhile governments in other countries have built real-time payments systems, the United States has relied on our innovation sector to deliver real-time payments technologies. Some of those technologies are built and managed by bank consortia and some are based on independent node verification networks such as blockchains&#8230;\u201d<\/p><cite>Acting Comptroller of the Currency, Brian P. Brooks. <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>The OCC&#8217;s letter is a sign that the US financial system may be ready to concede to open blockchains. Instead of developing a central-bank digital currency from the ground up, the next best step may be to approve one on a system that already exists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of Circle,  (which operates the USDC stablecoin) took to Twitter with his breakdown on what this means for the future:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">6\/ This paves the way for the use of leading dollar digital currencies such as USDC as a mainstream payment medium for all forms of payments and settlement, and helps put the US in a leadership position in embracing the power of public blockchains.<\/p>&mdash; Jeremy Allaire (@jerallaire) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jerallaire\/status\/1346233136443772936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">January 4, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>(These are just two in a series of ten tweets. We highly recommend reading <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jerallaire\/status\/1346233135592304641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1346233136443772936%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fzebpay.com%2F%3Fp%3D12425\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">all<\/a> of them.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-news-may-not-all-be-as-rosy-as-it-seems\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_news_may_not_all_be_as_rosy_as_it_seems\"><\/span><strong>The news may not all be as rosy as it seems.<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The OCC may choose to follow the recommendations of FinCEN, another bureau of the US Treasury. FinCEN or the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed that exchanges report cryptocurrency transactions if they meet a certain dollar threshold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This would, in effect add a second layer over the blockchain, hampering any benefits it would provide. In the words of Reddit user <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/CryptoCurrency\/comments\/kql034\/the_occ_will_allow_us_banks_to_use_public\/gi5i45j\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">\/u\/chuck_portis<\/a>, \u201cthey&#8217;re basically taking a car and tying a horse in front of it to make sure it stays under the speed limit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-dots\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This week has been BIG for crypto, with Bitcoin up 23.9% over the past seven days, while Ether has jumped 56.8%. But the week\u2019s biggest win may be in the form of new legislation. On Monday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued an interpretive letter that could help make crypto payments [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12427,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_ayudawp_aiss_exclude":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[16,84,112],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12425"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zebpay.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}