The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) officially released Interpretive Letter 1188 today (September 9), explicitly confirming thatnational banks can legally engage in "riskless principal transactions" of crypto assets under certain conditions. This guidance allows banks to act as "risk-neutral" principals, simultaneously conducting equal-amount reverse transactions with two clients without holding any crypto assets, functioning equivalent to traditional brokers. This can be considered the most significant step in the US regulatory authorities' relaxation of restrictions on banks' participation in the crypto market.
Three key points of Letter No. 1188
Full hedging, no inventory left
The bank can buy (or sell) a certain amount of crypto assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum with customer A, and at the same time immediately conduct a transaction with customer B of the exact same amount but in the opposite direction, achieving "instant hedging". The bank's account always has "zero open positions", completely avoiding the risk of price fluctuations.
Equivalent to agency brokerage business
The OCC explicitly states that this model is essentially "agency matchmaking," which falls under the category of "incidental powers" permitted by the National Banking Act, and banks can operate it without applying for additional special permits.
Safety and stability remain the ironclad rule
Although the green light has been given, banks must establish a complete anti-money laundering (AML), cybersecurity, and third-party risk management mechanism, and notify the OCC regulatory authority in advance; otherwise, they may still face regulatory penalties.
Profound impact on the US banking industry
This guidance effectively opens the door for giants like JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs, allowing traditional banks to directly provide spot trading services for Bitcoin and Ethereum to institutional and high-net-worth clients in a "low-risk" manner, without having to go through cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken to transfer orders.
The market responded enthusiastically, and Bitcoin broke through the $93,000 mark.
Following the announcement, Bitcoin (BTC) surged past $93,000; Ethereum (ETH) also rose sharply, briefly reaching $3,200.
