§5915 Authority of Banking Institutions

Summary

Banks and credit unions may do certain digital-asset activities if allowed by federal or state law. They can take deposits or shares and issue digital tokens tied to them, use a distributed ledger for their records and internal transfers, and hold payment stablecoins, the private keys for them, or the reserves that back them in custody. Regulated entities may act as issuers, agents, or principals for payment stablecoins and charge fees for customer transactions. The main federal regulators for payment stablecoins must review and update rules or guidance to make this clear. Federal agencies, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Securities and Exchange Commission cannot force a bank, credit union, trust company, or their affiliates to list customer digital assets held in custody as the bank’s liabilities on its balance sheet. They also cannot require holding extra regulatory capital against those custody assets or the reserves behind them, except when the appropriate regulator (the federal banking agency, the NCUA, or the relevant state bank or state credit union supervisor) finds extra capital is needed to manage custody risks. A state-chartered bank with a permitted payment-stablecoin issuer subsidiary may do money transmission or custody work through that subsidiary across states if its home State requires and routinely reviews adequate liquidity and capital, including uninsured deposits. A host State regulator may still examine the subsidiary to enforce that State’s consumer protection laws. Home State = where the bank is chartered. Host State = any other State where it does business.