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Bitcoin Sees Largest Annual Exchange Drop: Over 400,000 Coins Gone

Bitcoin’s on-exchange supply has dropped sharply, and traders are taking note. According to Santiment, more than 403,000 BTC have left exchanges since December 7, 2024 — roughly 2% of Bitcoin’s total supply.

That shift, measured against an on-exchange balance of about 2.11 million BTC in late November, is being seen as a sign that fewer coins are poised for quick sale.

Exchange Balances Shrink

Santiment said lower exchange balances have historically been linked with fewer sudden sell-offs, an observation many market watchers find encouraging.

The math is straightforward: when a big chunk of supply sits outside exchanges, there is less immediately available stock to meet selling pressure.

📊 As Bitcoin’s market value hovers around $90K, crypto’s top market cap continues to see its supply moving away from exchanges. Over the past year, there has been:

📉 A net total of -403.2K $BTC moving off exchanges 📉 A net reduction of -2.09% of $BTC‘s entire supply moving… pic.twitter.com/Y0JTC880Np

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) December 8, 2025

Institutions Step In

Based on reports from BitcoinTresuries.Net and others, exchange outflows are not only going to private cold wallets. ETFs and public firms are also accumulating.

BitBo lists ETFs holding over 1.5 million BTC and public companies holding over 1 million. Combined, those holdings represent nearly 11% of the total Bitcoin supply.

According to analysts, institutional vehicles have quietly absorbed a lot of coins, changing where Bitcoin sits and who can sell it.

Supply Moves Matter

This is more than bookkeeping. Coins locked in institutional or self-custodied vaults are not sold on a whim. That makes available supply tighter.

At the same time, coins leaving exchanges can lead to sharper price moves when demand surges because the pool of sellable coins is smaller. Some of the effects are already visible on price charts; others may show up later if buying pressure picks up.

Price Action And Macro Focus

Bitcoin traded near $90,650 with a small rise of 0.28% in recent action. Year-to-date gains stand at 11%. The market swung from a daily low of $89,540 to a high of $92,290, showing active trading around current levels.

Traders are watching a Federal Reserve meeting closely, and the outcome is expected to drive short-term volatility. Interest-rate cues often move broader markets, and crypto is no exception.

Market Outlook And Risks

Overall, the move off exchanges looks like a bullish backdrop because it reduces immediate selling liquidity. Still, that same scarcity can make prices more sensitive to changes in demand, which raises the possibility of sharper swings.

Analysts will be watching whether ETFs and public firms continue to add to their holdings or start to slow down purchases.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Institutional Investors Are Leaving Ethereum And Buying XRP – Here Are The Figures

The newest Digital Asset Fund Flows Weekly Report from CoinShares paints a picture of shifting institutional preferences toward XRP, and Ethereum is no longer attracting the level of attention it once did. The report shows that Ethereum’s weekly inflows came in far behind other major assets, even as overall sentiment in the crypto market improved.  Meanwhile, XRP surged to the second-highest inflow position behind Bitcoin, and large investors are reallocating capital away from Ethereum and into funds linked to XRP.

Ethereum Inflows Lose Momentum

Ethereum’s position in institutional portfolios has weakened noticeably in recent weeks. This was evident in a four-week stretch of outflows throughout November. Notably, a recent broader market recovery pushed total digital asset inflows to $716 million last week, bringing the inflow stretch to two consecutive weeks.

However, Ethereum captured only a small share of that capital. The report shows Ethereum with just $39.1 million in weekly inflows, a subdued figure compared to the sizeable movements seen in other assets. This soft performance follows months of cooling demand, and it suggests that institutional conviction in Ethereum is fading.

Even the month-to-date figure trails behind expectations, coming in at $41.2 million, far below the institutional numbers of Bitcoin XRP, and even Chainlink.

XRP Pulls In Massive Institutional Demand

XRP ranked as the second-largest inflow recipient last week, drawing $245 million, more than six times what Ethereum received. This surge builds on strong year-to-date activity, lifting XRP’s total inflows for 2025 to over $3.1 billion, far above the $608 million recorded in 2024. 

CoinShares’ report shows that XRP’s inflows are a sustained trend rather than a one-off spike. Inflows into XRP-linked products have jumped massively since the introduction of Spot XRP ETFs in the US. Interestingly, these ETFs have witnessed consistent days of inflows since their launch.

These figures indicate that institutions view XRP as a more attractive allocation than Ethereum at this stage of the market cycle. XRP’s strong accumulation coincides with improving sentiment across the derivatives market, where products linked to Bitcoin have also recovered. 

Speaking of Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency remained the dominant inflow magnet, with $352 million entering its investment products last week. However, the more notable story lies in the sequence of inflows just behind Bitcoin. Bitcoin continues to anchor portfolios, but capital that would have traditionally flowed into Ethereum is now finding its way into XRP, alongside other new institutional favorites such as Chainlink, which posted a record weekly inflow of $52.8 million, representing more than half of its year-to-date inflows.

Across the geographic breakdown, inflows from the US, Germany, and Canada contributed heavily to this realignment. The US received the most inflows of $483 million last week. Germany, Canada, and Switzerland-based funds came in behind with $96.9 million, $80.7 million, and $34.4 million, respectively.

XRP price chart from Tradingview.com (Ethereum)

El Salvador’s AuthenticDoc Goes Live: Bitcoin-Powered Signatures Eye $60B DocuSign

By: Juan Galt

Bitcoin Magazine

El Salvador’s AuthenticDoc Goes Live: Bitcoin-Powered Signatures Eye $60B DocuSign

AuthenticDoc, a decentralized digital signature platform developed in El Salvador, launched on November 13, 2025, at the Adopting Bitcoin conference in San Salvador. The tool uses the Nostr protocol for its open-source, decentralized architecture, incorporating Bitcoin-compatible cryptography to enable tamper-proof document verification and user-controlled private keys.

Co-founder Fabian, of the Salvadoran firm illuminodes, announced the release during the conference. “The digital signature landscape is ripe for innovation, and AuthenticDoc is leading the charge,” Fabian said. “We’ve harnessed the power of decentralized open protocol technology to deliver unparalleled security and control, effectively eliminating single points of failure that plague traditional solutions. Our platform provides a robust, tamper-proof cryptographic verification and authentication solution that businesses can trust, all while making it accessible and affordable.”

Built by Bitcoiners, the start-up addresses vulnerabilities in centralized platforms like DocuSign, which holds about 70% of the $10 billion digital signature market. According to their press release, the sector is projected to grow to $60 billion by 2030 at a 40% compound annual growth rate, fueled by regulations such as the EU’s eIDAS and the U.S. ESIGN Act, alongside remote work trends and AI-driven authenticity challenges.

The platform’s core features include trustless identity verification, private key management for users, and ISO-standard compliance for enterprise use. It eliminates reliance on centralized storage by using Nostr’s event-based system, where documents and signatures are cryptographically signed and distributed across a network of relays, ensuring robust data storage and distribution.

Diego, head of technology at illuminodes, emphasized the shift from legacy systems. “Our decentralized architecture empowers users with private key control and trustless identity verification, moving beyond the vulnerabilities of centralized systems,” Adding that, “this is not just an incremental improvement; it’s a paradigm shift in how digital signatures are secured and managed.”

AuthenticDoc is free for basic use, with paid tiers based on volume for enterprises, undercutting competitors’ license-based models. The platform supports global expansion from its El Salvador headquarters, leveraging local talent and regulatory support to target markets in Latin America, North America, and Europe.

This post El Salvador’s AuthenticDoc Goes Live: Bitcoin-Powered Signatures Eye $60B DocuSign first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Juan Galt.

The Unbanked Billion: Why AGI Will Choose Bitcoin Over Dollars

Software agents now plan travel, shop online, and negotiate subscriptions; the next step extends that autonomy from clicks to settlement, since a wallet can be created in code and funded without manual steps.

That shift recasts payments as an API call, and it places public chains and stablecoins in the centre of a new transaction layer that never sleeps.

The idea is not science fiction for distant horizons; it follows directly from how agents already fetch data, route tasks, and make bounded choices, which means a wallet simply gives those choices a way to clear. Once an agent can hold value, it can pay for compute, storage, and data, and it can accept income for work completed, such as labeling, scraping, modelling, or orchestration.

The practical consequence lands in market microstructure rather than marketing slogans, because autonomous clients transact in small bursts at high frequency, and that behaviour rewards always-on rails with low fees, programmable controls, and finality that does not depend on banking hours.

AI Agents and On-Chain Wallets

An agent that operates through a browser or a scripted environment can generate an address, set spending rules, and move funds under policy constraints defined by its owner, and that capability removes the need for a traditional account in many machine contexts.

Bitcoin and major stablecoins already settle value at any hour, and they provide deterministic outcomes that agents can reason about, which reduces operational risk for machine workflows.

In this setting, the wallet becomes a permissions system as much as a purse, since owners can impose daily limits, permitted counterparties, and audit trails, while services can demand proof of funds, time-locked payments, or escrow before fulfilling requests.

Machine wallets then pay other machines for access to GPUs, curated datasets, retrieval bandwidth, or specialised tools, with pricing expressed in tokens that settle quickly and atomically.

A parallel economy can emerge from these loops, because agents often trade with other agents rather than with people, which creates a constant order flow that ties token liquidity to the cost of compute and the value of data.

🚀 Nansen launches @Nansen_AI a mobile agent bringing onchain data, portfolio insights & soon trading—AI-driven markets. #Crypto #AIhttps://t.co/IEk2JBvVUV

— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) September 25, 2025

Policy, KYC, and the Fiat-Crypto Bridge

Rules will decide the shape of this market as surely as code will, since financial regulators must map identity, liability, and records to transactions that no banker keys in by hand.

A workable pattern places a verified human or company at the perimeter, delegates spend authority to an agent, and binds the wallet to controls that can be inspected, suspended, or revoked when thresholds or alerts trigger.

Consumer protection fits into that model through disclosures and limits that mirror card frameworks, while anti-abuse controls track flows without forcing every low-value machine payment through manual review.

Payment companies can bridge fiat and crypto by linking fiat balances to on-chain rails for settlement, and by allowing agents to draw against prefunded sources that are tied to known principals.

The result is a system where Bitcoin and major stablecoins clear routine tasks and periodic invoices, banks remain central for fiat entry and exit, and auditability improves because policies live in code rather than policy binders.

The post The Unbanked Billion: Why AGI Will Choose Bitcoin Over Dollars appeared first on Cryptonews.

Crypto Market Consolidates as Funds Rotate to BTC and ETH After $2B Liquidations: Wintermute

After two months dominated by uncertainty, global markets are showing greater tolerance toward negative macro inputs, according to research commentary from Wintermute.

https://t.co/GcIe5KH1NC

— Wintermute (@wintermute_t) December 9, 2025

Concerns surrounding central bank policy pivots, uneven macroeconomic data, and questions around the sustainability of AI-driven capex remain, but they are no longer triggering the same reflexive risk-off reaction seen earlier in the quarter.

The result is a consolidation phase marked by choppy but more resilient trading patterns as price action settles into a range-bound structure. Wintermute notes that the market has shifted from reactive liquidation to a more measured environment of digestion and recalibration.

Crypto Sees Rotation Into Majors as Fragility Meets Resilience

In crypto, the shift has been one of consolidation rather than breakout. Bitcoin has recovered toward $92,000, while overall crypto market capitalization has rebounded to $3.25 trillion.

Last Friday’s sharp $4,000 intraday drawdown, triggered by cascading liquidations totaling $2 billion in just over an hour, showed the lingering fragility of the recovery.

However, the key takeaway for Wintermute was that the market absorbed the shock without follow-through selling, indicating growing resilience.

Fading momentum in the Nasdaq is pushing investors toward more selective risk-taking. Wintermute’s desk notes a rotation into majors, with rare simultaneous inflows into BTC and ETH from both retail and institutional participants.

Yet despite increased spot flows, the compressed basis reflects low conviction in leveraged positioning, as participants await clarity on the macro front.

Focus Turns to the Fed and BOJ as Altcoin Appetite Stalls

A packed central bank calendar is now driving positioning. Market attention is fixed on the Federal Reserve decision this Wednesday, followed by the Bank of Japan next week.

With CME basis compressed, interest has shifted toward delta-neutral strategies in lower-cap assets, where carry opportunities remain attractive, reports Wintermute.

This trend shows a lack of appetite for directional altcoin risk, with the market prioritizing yield capture and capital efficiency over speculative exposure—a posture consistent with consolidation rather than breakout.

Outlook: Consolidation Remains the Base Case

Wintermute’s research concludes that the market is consolidating without conviction, and major macro events are likely to dictate the next directional move. Activity has narrowed around the most liquid assets, while subdued funding and muted leverage reflect caution.

Absent a decisive macro surprise, crypto is expected to remain range-bound, with volatility driven more by liquidity and structural positioning than fundamentals. Rising interest in delta-neutral and carry strategies reinforces consolidation as the prevailing regime into year-end.

The post Crypto Market Consolidates as Funds Rotate to BTC and ETH After $2B Liquidations: Wintermute appeared first on Cryptonews.

Tassat Secures U.S. Patent for ‘Yield-in-Transit’ On-chain Settlement Technology

Tassat Group, Inc. announced on Tuesday that it has secured a U.S. patent for its on-chain Yield-in-Transit (YIT) technology, marking an advancement in programmable interest-bearing settlement infrastructure.

Proud to share that Tassat has been granted a U.S. patent for Yield-in-Transit, enabling continuous on-chain interest accrual across settlement, collateral, and treasury operations. It’s live on Lynq, with 50+ institutions onboarding. https://t.co/6BK3DUve4f

— Tassat Group (@tassatgroup) December 9, 2025

The patent is part of Tassat’s mission to modernize financial transaction systems for regulated institutions and supports the company’s role in allowing Lynq to deliver end-to-end integrated interest-bearing settlement at scale.

Developed in collaboration with Arca Labs and tZERO Group and launched in July 2025 with the backing of U.S. Bank, Avalanche, B2C2, Crypto.com, Fireblocks, Galaxy, FalconX, and Wintermute, Lynq allows digital asset institutions to accrue and receive on-chain interest continuously throughout settlement, collateral, and reserve processes.

Yield-in-Transit: Intraday Interest Without Friction

Tassat’s patented YIT technology covers the intraday accrual and distribution of on-chain interest, addressing a longstanding challenge in high-velocity settlement environments.

By allowing interest distribution proportionate to the time assets are held, the YIT model removes the ambiguity, manual reconciliation, and economic inefficiency typically associated with 24/7, cross-platform settlement.

“The award of this key patent validates Tassat’s continued innovation in tokenization and real-time programmable settlement platforms,” said Glen Sussman, Chief Executive Officer of Tassat.

“Yield-in-Transit has the potential to transform how digital asset institutions such as market makers, exchanges, custodians, and stablecoin issuers think about on-chain capital efficiency,” Sussman added.

Driving Capital Productivity in a 24/7 Financial Landscape

YIT will make sure that liquidity is never idle. The technology keeps capital productive throughout the settlement process—positioning on-chain assets to continuously generate returns in ways traditional systems cannot without batch-based cycles, cutoffs, or multi-day delays.

“This IP embodies our commitment to building next-generation blockchain solutions that meet the real-time needs of leading digital asset firms,” added Andre Frank, Chief Operating Officer of Tassat. “It opens the door to YIT-enabled features, including collateral pledging, delivery vs. payment, and stablecoin reserve management.”

Real-World Deployment Through Lynq

The real-time impact of Yield-in-Transit is already being demonstrated within Lynq’s institutional network.

“Through the incorporation of Yield-in-Transit into Lynq, our users are able to accrue on-chain intraday interest and receive distributions the same day,” said Jerald David, Chief Executive Officer at Lynq. “Tassat and Lynq are redefining how institutions optimize settlement, collateral, and liquidity operations.”

The post Tassat Secures U.S. Patent for ‘Yield-in-Transit’ On-chain Settlement Technology appeared first on Cryptonews.

Bitcoin In An Opportunity Zone? Hash Ribbons Flash New Buy Signal

On-chain data shows the popular Bitcoin Hash Ribbons indicator has just given a miner capitulation signal. Here’s what this could mean.

Bitcoin Hash Ribbons Now Signaling Miner Stress

As pointed out by CryptoQuant author Darkfrost in an X post, the Bitcoin Hash Ribbons have shown a crossover that has historically corresponded to rising stress among the miners. The Hash Ribbons indicator aims to gauge the situation of the miners by comparing the 30-day and 60-day moving averages (MAs) of the BTC Hashrate, a metric that measures the total amount of computing power that the validators as a whole have connected to the blockchain.

The trend in the Hashrate can act as a representation of the sentiment among the miners, as they usually expand computing power (an increase in the Hashrate) when mining is profitable and/or they believe BTC is heading toward a bullish outcome, while they decommission mining rigs (a drop in the Hashrate) when they are having a hard time breaking even.

The Hash Ribbons indicator basically captures shifts between these two behaviors. When the 30-day ribbon falls below the 60-day one, it means miners are reducing power at a fast rate. This can be a sign that this group is going through capitulation.

Such a crossover has recently formed again for Bitcoin, as the chart below shared by Darkfrost shows.

Bitcoin Hash Ribbons

Thus, it would appear that miners are once again in a phase of capitulation. “Historically, these periods of mining stress have been profitable for Bitcoin investors, with one exception during the 2021 mining ban in China,” noted the analyst.

The signal doesn’t act as a straightforward buy indicator, however, as mining capitulation often doesn’t directly coincide with a bottom. “In the short term, these periods tend to be bearish because miners may need to increase their selling to cover production costs,” explained Darkfrost.

In general, miner capitulation periods have tended to lead into profitable buying windows for the cryptocurrency, although it’s unpredictable how long such a phase would last. From the chart, it’s apparent that sometimes the Hash Ribbons signal has been quite brief, while other times it has been maintained for weeks.

As for what has forced miners to turn off Hashrate recently, the answer likely lies in the bearish trajectory that Bitcoin has witnessed. Miners obtain their reward in BTC denomination, so how the USD value of the coin fluctuates directly affects their dollar revenue.

Before this, miners had been in a phase of rapid expansion alongside the bull rally, which had led to an explosion in the network’s mining Difficulty. With the price plummeting and Difficulty being at extraordinary levels, miners have faced a double whammy during the past month.

BTC Price

Bitcoin saw a recovery above $92,000 on Monday, but it would appear that the asset wasn’t able to maintain it, as its price is now back at $90,300.

Bitcoin Price Chart

How Does Ripple’s XRP Enable The Trillion-Dollar Tokenization Market?

Crypto pundit Pumpius has provided insights into Ripple’s XRP’s role to enable the trillion-dollar tokenization market on the XRP Ledger (XRPL). He also explained how the altcoin and Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin work hand in hand rather than being competitors on the network. 

Ripple XRP’s Role In Enabling Tokenization On The XRPL

In an X post, Pumpius stated that XRP handles cross-border liquidity and deep global routing while Ripple’s RLUSD supports domestic flows, tokenized assets, and institutional balance sheets. This came as he noted that pairing XRP with RLUSD creates a two-asset settlement engine in the push for tokenization on the XRPL. 

The crypto pundit further stated that both XRP and Ripple’s RLUSD unlock instant settlement for tokenized assets, atomic swaps, capital-efficient markets, and unified liquidity across the entire XRPL ecosystem. He asserted that without instant, programmable, and compliant settlement, tokenized assets are nothing more than digital placeholders. 

Pumpius remarked that this is where Ripple’s RLUSD becomes transformative. He explained that the stablecoin is the operational backbone for real-world assets on the XRP Ledger. The crypto pundit added that it is the first dollar that settles at XRPL speed with institutional-grade transparency and regulatory alignment.  

In line with this, Pumpius reiterated that tokenization is useless without settlement. While RLUSD fixes the settlement problem, he stated that XRP amplifies it and that the emerging ZK layer will protect it. Regarding the ZK layer, the pundit stated that as private ZK infrastructure begins to anchor the XRPL identity, privacy and compliance layers will slot into this model, making settlement fast, verifiable, and shielded when needed. 

He declared that settlement, privacy, and compliant identity are the final form institutions have been waiting for before they begin tokenizing on the XRP Ledger. Notably, Ripple has already included introducing privacy features on the network into its roadmap. 

Ripple CTO Defends XRP And XRPL

In an X post, Ripple CTO David Schwartz defended XRP and the XRPL after the altcoin was described as being “extremely centralized” because it is permissioned. Schwartz rebutted the statement that it was permissioned, noting that no one needs, or could have, any special permission to issue or execute XRPL transactions.

He further stated that XRP is unpermissioned for the same reason Bitcoin is. He added that if anyone were to exercise control over the network in a way that is perceived as unfair, everyone else would change whatever was needed to regain fairness. The Ripple CTO also mentioned that, over more than a decade, no XRP transaction has been censored. At the same time, he claimed that Bitcoin miners routinely delay transactions they disfavor for any reason. 

At the time of writing, the XRP price is trading at around $2.05, down in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Ripple

US Banks Cleared For ‘Riskless’ Crypto Transactions Following OCC Letter

In a new major breakthrough for the digital asset industry in the United States, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced on Tuesday that national banks are permitted to engage in “riskless principal transactions” involving crypto-assets. 

This confirmation comes through the issuance of Interpretive Letter 1188, which outlines the guidelines for such activities.

OCC’s New Framework

According to the OCC’s guidance, acting as a riskless principal for crypto-assets aligns with the services that national banks already offer to custody customers. 

National banks are now allowed to buy and sell both financial and non-financial assets held in custody based on customer directions, adhering to existing agreements and legal requirements. 

Therefore, facilitating the buying and selling of digital assets for custody customers in a riskless principal capacity is essentially the same as acting as an agent for those customers, and it is acknowledged as a legitimate banking activity.

This new framework means that customers can transact in crypto-assets through established national banks, providing a more regulated environment compared to exchanges that operate outside the purview of strict financial oversight. 

Key Concern For Banks In Crypto Transactions

The OCC also distinguished between riskless principal transactions in digital assets and those in traditional securities. The primary differences lie in the underlying assets and the technology used to facilitate these transactions. 

The main concern associated with riskless principal transactions is counterparty credit risk, especially settlement risk. Similarly, in customer-driven, perfectly matched derivative transactions that utilize transitory title transfer, credit risk is the predominant factor. In the letter, the OCC concluded the following:

As with any activity, a bank that conducts riskless principal crypto-asset transactions must do so in a safe and sound manner and in compliance with applicable law. The OCC will examine riskless principal crypto-asset activities as part of its ongoing supervisory process.

Crypto

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com 

OCC Confirms Banks Can Act as Intermediaries in Crypto Transactions

Bitcoin Magazine

OCC Confirms Banks Can Act as Intermediaries in Crypto Transactions

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has clarified that national banks may engage in “riskless principal” transactions involving crypto-assets.

In its new Interpretive Letter 1188, the OCC explained that such transactions allow a bank to act as a principal between two customers, buying crypto from one while simultaneously selling it to another. 

The bank does not hold the assets in inventory, effectively serving as a broker acting on behalf of clients.

This guidance follows a broader regulatory trend to ease restrictions on crypto activities within the traditional banking sector. In March, the OCC removed prior requirements for banks to seek advance approval before engaging in certain crypto operations, signaling growing acceptance of digital assets in mainstream finance.

In other words, U.S. banks can now offer crypto services in a manner similar to traditional brokerage activities. 

Last week, Bank of America announced it would allow wealth management clients to allocate 1%–4% of their portfolios to digital assets.

The guidance applied across Merrill, Bank of America Private Bank, and Merrill Edge, enabling more than 15,000 advisers—previously restricted—to recommend crypto proactively. 

Also, earlier today, PNC Bank became the first major U.S. bank to offer eligible Private Bank clients direct bitcoin trading through its own platform, powered by Coinbase’s infrastructure. The service allowed qualified clients to buy, hold, and sell bitcoin without using an external exchange. 

The launch followed a strategic partnership with Coinbase announced in July.

Full OCC letter details

In essence, the letter basically confirmed that national banks may engage in ‘riskless principal transactions’ in crypto-assets. 

Per the letter, a riskless principal transaction occurs when a bank buys an asset from one counterparty with the simultaneous agreement to sell it immediately to another, without holding the asset in inventory except in rare cases like settlement failures. 

In this role, the bank functions similarly to a broker, taking on limited settlement, market, and credit risk.

The letter made a distinction between crypto-assets that are securities and those that are not. Riskless principal transactions in crypto-assets classified as securities are already permissible under existing law, as the bank acts without recourse, meaning it does not assume customer risk.

The OCC extends this reasoning to crypto-assets that are not securities, framing the activity as part of the broader “business of banking.” 

Under U.S. law, the business of banking is not narrowly defined, allowing banks to engage in new activities that logically extend their traditional functions.

The OCC analyzed the activity using four factors: its similarity to recognized banking activities, its benefit to banks and customers, the nature of the risks involved, and whether state-chartered banks are authorized to perform it. 

Riskless principal crypto-asset transactions align with traditional brokerage and custody services, benefit customers by providing regulated access to crypto-assets, and carry risks familiar to banks, such as settlement risk. 

State regulatory frameworks do not prohibit similar activity, supporting the federal permissibility.

This post OCC Confirms Banks Can Act as Intermediaries in Crypto Transactions first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

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