Finance

Anchorage Digital applies for a Fed master account; what is it?

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Anchorage Digital Bank has formally applied for a Federal Reserve master account, according to a database update published Friday. The filing confirms months of speculation after Anchorage co-founder and CEO Nathan McCauley declined to comment on the matter in June. 

According to the Crypto In America podcast host Eleanor Terrett, the crypto bank for institutions submitted an application to federal regulators on August 28. 

Anchorage is the only digital asset company that holds a national trust bank charter, a designation it received from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in 2021. That charter authorizes Anchorage to operate as a federally regulated trust bank but does not grant the same payment access that comes with a Fed master account. 

What is a Fed master account?

A master account is the operational foundation that allows banks to settle transactions directly with the central bank and hold balances with the Federal Reserve. Depository institutions use these accounts to hold reserves and access the Fed’s payment services, including settlement of wire transfers, check clearing, and other interbank transactions.

Without such access, banks must use third-party intermediaries to route payments. If Anchorage Digital acquired the account, it could become the first and only crypto bank that could hold assets outside digital currencies, just like traditional financial institutions. 

Anchorage became one of the first federally chartered digital-asset banks when the OCC conditionally approved its national trust bank charter in January 2021. However, a little over a year later, the OCC issued a consent order citing failures in its compliance program on anti-money laundering (AML) standards. 

However, in August of this year, the OCC terminated that order, stating that Anchorage’s compliance now meets regulatory expectations. 

“We received, and have now resolved, feedback from regulators as we set the standard for federally-chartered custody of digital assets,” McCauley wrote in a blog post. “With our consent order lifted, we’ve proven definitively that crypto and federal oversight are not mutually exclusive, and can in fact be stronger working in tandem.”

Public companies and crypto firms seek bank licenses

Anchorage is not the only digital asset company seeking a pathway to federal banking systems. Several companies’ applications for Fed master accounts were documented, including those from WisdomTree Digital Trust, Standard Custody & Trust Company, and Commercium Financial, between June and July.

Stablecoin RLUSD issuer Ripple submitted an application for a US national bank charter on July 2, while companies like Paxos and Circle have made moves toward federal charters or trust-bank status, as previously reported by Cryptopolitan. 

For the first time since the Federal Reserve adopted its 2022 guidelines for master account access, a Reserve Bank has rejected a Tier 1 institution’s request, according to the Fed’s latest master account and services database update, shared by the bank regulation blog X account.

Tier 1 applicants, federally insured depository institutions, have always seen near-universal approvals, but one request has now been formally denied. Out of 92 Tier 1 applications logged, 76 have been approved, 10 remain pending, five were withdrawn, and one has been rejected.

Tier 3 institutions, which include firms such as crypto banks and trust companies, have only one approval against three rejections and 20 pending cases.

Meanwhile, the US Treasury Department has taken a step forward in formal stablecoins rulemaking. On Friday, the department launched an advance notice of proposed rulemaking tied to the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act). 

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Source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/anchorage-applies-for-a-fed-master-account/