In a quiet yet consequential turn, the Federal Reserve has rolled back its prior crypto-specific guidance for banks, marking a shift from supervisory gatekeeping to post-hoc oversight. Gone are the 2022 and 2023 directives that forced banks to seek approval before touching stablecoins or other digital assets—replaced now by standard supervisory channels, with the Fed insisting it will “remain aligned with evolving risks.”
The Board will no longer expect banks to provide notification and will instead monitor banks’ crypto-asset activities through the normal supervisory process.
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
This recalibration, echoed by the FDIC’s similar rollback last month, suggests a regulatory tone that’s softening—not out of blind optimism, but perhaps an acknowledgment that strict preclearance has choked more than it has safeguarded. Banks are no longer required to tiptoe through bespoke notification regimes; instead, they’re expected to manage crypto risk as they would any other asset class—internally, prudently, and with documentation ready for the next examiner’s clipboard.
Market reaction, predictably, splits down tribal lines. Some herald reduced friction as a green light for institutional adoption; others see a tactical retreat that swaps clarity for ambiguity. And while the IMF continues to beat the drum on global coordination and emerging-market fragility, Washington’s latest stance signals a willingness to let banks experiment—so long as they don’t blow anything up.
