Aislinn Keely

Banks may hold digital assets required to pay crypto transaction fees and test new crypto platforms, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency confirmed in a Tuesday interpretive letter.

Federal banking regulators say they're focused on executing their fintech rulemaking agendas in the coming months, with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. planning to circulate a stablecoin licensing regime by year's end and the Federal Reserve intending to provide fintechs easier access to its payment rails by the close of next year.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins on Wednesday pledged to "draw clear lines" about which crypto transactions the SEC doesn't regulate, but committed that coming rules and exemptions for digital assets are "not a promise of lax enforcement at the SEC."

Blockchain-focused firm Datavault AI Inc. is suing an activist short seller for publishing a report the company said is "riddled with outright falsehoods, inflammatory accusations and cherry-picked half-truths" about an executive's past run-in with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the extent to which its blockchain is used.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission would have "exclusive jurisdiction" over so-called digital commodities under a discussion draft of legislation to regulate crypto markets released Monday by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman, R.-Ark., and Sen. Cory Booker, D.-N.J.

A U.S. Treasury Department proposal on how stablecoins should be regulated has sparked a clash between banking groups and crypto advocates over whether issuers and others should be allowed to offer interest on the tokens, with banks and consumer watchdogs warning the activity could create unnecessary risks.

Jack Dorsey's fintech firm Block Inc. told investors that it may take a financial hit from a multistate probe into its mobile payments platform CashApp, and remains locked in a separate multimillion dollar tax dispute with the County of San Francisco over its bitcoin sales.

Two banking industry groups have opposed crypto exchange Coinbase's bid for a national trust company charter, warning in comment letters to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency that granting the crypto firm's application could lead to systemic risks.

Cryptocurrency advocates and bank trade groups both urged the U.S. Department of the Treasury to issue guidance that will enable them to use novel technologies to keep up with illicit finance threats in digital asset markets, although banks cautioned the regulator to keep institutions and crypto upstarts on equal footing when it comes to burdens to fight money laundering.

A Kentucky federal judge on Wednesday barred the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from enforcing its open banking rule until the regulator completes its reconsideration of the controversial data-sharing mandate.