The Fed said this week it had set up a program to strengthen oversight of activities involving digital assets and blockchain technology by the lenders it oversees. The program will also focus on banks’ partnerships with firms that aren’t lenders, such as fintech companies, to provide services to customers.
“The fear is that engagement with such volatile assets could put the traditional banking sector at risk,” said Howard Fischer, a New York-based partner at the law firm Moses Singer. That view is unlikely to change unless the digital-asset space is regulated more like traditional financial firms, he said.