Companies like Avanti Bank, which aims to provide custody services for institutional investors in cryptocurrencies, and Kraken, a cryptocurrency exchange platform say direct access to the Fed’s payment systems would allow them to more quickly and cheaply process orders from customers buying and selling digital assets. Currently they must partner with traditional banks that have accounts with the Fed.
“It is reasonable to expect that such applicants will pose heightened risks regarding matters of anti-money-laundering, cybersecurity and consumer protection, as well as safety and soundness,” the Bank Policy Institute, which represents large banks, and the Independent Community Bankers of America wrote in a letter to the Fed last month.