• Ripple kills Michael Barr Comptroller Currency
    Obama Treasury official Michael Barr will not be Comptroller of the Currency (Photo: University of Michigan)
    Regulation,  Ripple

    Ripple advisor’s crypto connections kill appointment as banking regulator

    Former Ripple Advisory Board member Michael Barr was too moderate and pro-crypto for progressives who blocked his nomination as Comptroller of the Currency

    March 13, 2021 /

    Barr was seen as part of a trio of crypto-friendly financial regulators nominated or under consideration by the administration of President Joe Biden. Former MIT digital asset and blockchain professor Gary Gensler is in the process of being confirmed as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), while DC Fintech Week conference head Chris Brummer is said the be the choice to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

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  • Ripple advisor Michael Barr Comptroller Currency
    Michael Barr taught financial regulation at the University of Michigan and co-founded its International Transactions Clinic (Photo: University of Michigan)
    Regulation,  Ripple,  XRP

    Ripple advisor Michael Barr to be named Comptroller of the Currency: Report

    The former member of the international payments firm’s advisory board could become the nation’s second ‘fintech comptroller’

    January 21, 2021 /

    That would mean that the Biden Administration’s Comptroller of the Currency would have an affiliation with Ripple, a company being sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for illegally selling an unregistered security—XRP—for a period of more than seven years.

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  • Brian Brooks leaves OCC
    Crypto's best friend is leaving the OCC (Photo: OCC)
    Cryptocurrencies,  Regulation

    Crypto-friendly Brian Brooks steps down as bank overseer

    The former Coinbase executive’s rulings at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency aided the cryptocurrency industry by allowing banks to custody and make payments with stablecoins

    January 14, 2021 /

    During his eight months at the head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Brooks, a former general counsel at Coinbase, enacted a number of reforms that helped push the cryptocurrency industry farther into the banking industry’s mainstream, most recently authorizing banks to use stablecoins to make payments and for other transactions on behalf of customers.

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  • Anchorage crypto first national bank
    Anchorage CEO Nathan McCauley and President Diogo Mónica are now bankers
    Cryptocurrencies,  Regulation

    Anchorage wins crypto’s first national bank charter

    The cryptocurrency custodian says its federal bank status will provide Wall Street and institutional investors an extra level of comfort in jumping into digital

    January 13, 2021 /

    The conditional approval of Anchorage’s national trust charter application “makes Anchorage Digital Bank National Association the first federally chartered digital asset bank in history,” said Anchorage CEO Nathan McCauley and President Diogo Mónica. “This is a major milestone, not only for us as an organization, but also for the crypto industry and the wider financial world. Crypto deserves a bank," they said.

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