The OCC has been signaling that they would be stepping into crypto regulation for some time. With Coinbase's former top lawyer now at the helm of the OCC they are making moves. In a guidance letter released 22 July they gave permission for US chartered banks to custody crypto. Link below. I have a feeling there is more to come from the OCC.
Is this just more noise or could the OCC really move the needle of adoption?
https://www.occ.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2020/nr-occ-2020-98.htmlinteresting, thanks for sharing. it opens the door for nationally chartered banks to take crypto deposits and perform related services, although the advice letter makes it sound like it was already implicitly legal anyway.
this won't have any effect on derivatives and securities (ETF) markets since those types of offerings also have to comply with CFTC, SEC, etc regulations.
as for encouraging adoption, i don't expect much to happen immediately. most banks will be too conservative to dip their toes in for quite a while, and small, tech-minded banks can only penetrate so far.
having said all that, it's quite a sight to see. bitcoin sure has come a long way.