Latest news with #CustodiaBank
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Crypto Firms Apply for National Trust Charters
Bloomberg Crypto Show "Bloomberg Crypto" covers the people, transactions, and technology shaping the world of decentralized finance. Today's guests: Kraken CO-CEO Arjun Sethi, Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo and Custodia Bank Founder and CEO Caitlin Long. (Source: Bloomberg)
CNBC
3 days ago
- Business
- CNBC
Gemini taps Ripple for credit line ahead of IPO: CNBC Crypto World
On today's episode of CNBC Crypto World, bitcoin, ether and XRP tumble to kick off the week as heightened macro concerns triggered more than $500 million in forced selling of long positions. And, Caitlin Long, founder and CEO of Custodia Bank, which specializes in crypto and is based in Wyoming, discusses the Federal Reserve's shifting stance on crypto as well as bank-issued stablecoins from the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium taking place in Jackson Hole.
Business Times
10-08-2025
- Business
- Business Times
US regulators to play key role in next crypto, bank fight
[WASHINGTON, DC] A major battle between crypto firms and traditional lenders over interest and bank charter applications is poised to be decided by regulators appointed by US President Donald Trump, who has been a vocal supporter of digital currencies. The Genius Act, which requires stablecoin issuers to formally register and hold dollar-for-dollar reserves, sets in motion a rule-writing process with US regulators that will determine what qualifies as generating interest on stablecoins and how far they can go in acting like a traditional bank. Trade groups, though, are already pushing back against attempts to grant bank charters to crypto firms and find workarounds for yield-generating stablecoins. 'There's a huge fight brewing between the banks and the non-bank stablecoin issuers,' said Caitlin Long, founder of Custodia Bank, a provider of digital-asset services. During the first Trump administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) sought to expand the services a trust bank can provide, with some saying it could include potentially making loans and settling payments. This summer, crypto firms including Circle Internet Group and Ripple Labs have applied for national trust bank charters and the current slew of applications is now a test of that OCC interpretation. Some trade groups opposed the move in July, arguing that the OCC should not have made the determination without public comment and that the move is a 'loophole' for trust banks to take advantage of the benefits of traditional banks without corresponding regulation. 'If the applicants are successfully able to establish themselves as national trust banks that do not primarily provide fiduciary services, but instead provide traditional banking services like payments, then, as the associations anticipated in 2021, other companies will follow, presenting material risk to the US banking and financial system,' the groups wrote in a July letter. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up A spokesperson for the OCC declined to comment. For crypto firms, these charters could provide a multitude of benefits, including no longer having to apply for licences state-by-state to do business and a stronger degree of legitimacy. 'It's the momentum that we need as a country to push forward,' said Stuart Alderoty, chief legal officer of Ripple and president of the National Cryptocurrency Association. 'It's a good thing for the Americans who already own crypto and for those who are crypto curious.' The trust bank charter provides an avenue for crypto firms to better compete against banks that have long existed in the space, according to Long. 'If the OCC gives these trust charters rather than full bank charters, these banks will have 10 to 15 per cent of the capital requirements of being a fully fledged bank and are not subject to all the regulations that apply to banks,' Long said. 'If the OCC is basically back door slashing the capital requirements and the regulations on banks, why wouldn't the banks convert to trust companies instead of being a bank as well.' For banks, the entrance of these firms into traditional finance is both an opportunity for collaboration and intense competition. Nathan McCauley, the head of Anchorage Digital, said traditional finance dramatically increased its outreach to his company and others in the run-up to the passage of the crypto legislation. Some of the nation's largest banks have since announced partnerships with digital asset firms, including JPMorgan Chase and Coinbase Global reaching a deal to directly link customers' bank accounts to their cryptocurrency wallets. But the bank industry is also nervous about competing with the crypto industry, which has a different approach to innovation compared with traditional financial institutions. 'This is an industry that doesn't think it needs to wait for rules, unlike the banking industry,' said Karen Shaw Petrou, a managing partner of Federal Financial Analytics, where she analyses financial firms, including lenders. 'Stablecoin issuers just go for it and that's going to unsettle the banks more than probably anything.' Crypto firms are also looking at ways to generate fresh monetary benefits tied to stablecoins after the banking lobby successfully pushed for a ban on issuers providing interest to their customers under the Genius Act. The digital asset is primarily used by traders to get in and out of other cryptocurrencies, but is also increasingly used for payments. When that asset is not actively part of a payment, it sits in an account, and companies are now not allowed to offer users yield for depositing their tokens into yield-bearing accounts. 'Banks, and lawmakers who receive donations from banks, are very concerned that a yield-bearing stablecoin that blurs the line between savings vehicle and a payment vehicle makes it much less attractive to have a checking account,' said Zach Shapiro, head of policy at the Bitcoin Policy Institute. Companies are now looking to expand stablecoin offerings as regulators begin the process of explicitly defining what interest looks like in the space and what is permissible for companies. Recently, Circle announced a partnership with Binance for an off-exchange collateral where customers can park their money when they are not making a payment. The largest US crypto exchange, Coinbase, already offers a rewards programme for certain consumers, which some in the banking industry argue could potentially be illegal under the no-interest provisions of the Genius Act. Coinbase disagrees, saying the programme has been tailored to be in compliance with the law. 'The statutory language is vague and has room for exception, but that's when the fun starts,' Petrou said. BLOOMBERG
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Caitlin Long slams JD Vance over 'Dead' Choke Point 2.0 claim
Caitlin Long slams JD Vance over 'Dead' Choke Point 2.0 claim originally appeared on TheStreet. Vice President JD Vance may have fired up the crowd at Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas, but Caitlin Long isn't buying it. Hours after Vance declared that 'Operation Choke Point 2.0 is dead, and it's not coming back under the Trump administration,' Long — the CEO of Custodia Bank and longtime crypto policy advocate — took to X to say that's simply not true.'I'm sorry to report what you said isn't true JD Vance: 'Operation Choke Point 2.0 is dead & it's not coming back under the Trump Administration.' Until the Fed rescinds its Jan 27, 2023 regulation (still in place) & its non-public debanking tools are gone, it's not over,' she wrote. Long didn't stop there. In another post, she referenced Vance's vow to 'fire everybody like [Gary Gensler],' by pointing out that several financial regulators with anti-crypto leanings still remain in power. 'The list of Warrenites still in power at federal financial regulators is long,' she said, adding that she'd been asked to resubmit it to a top Hill legislator just the day before. 'When is action going to be taken JD Vance??' The remarks from Vance were part of a broad, pro-Bitcoin speech that praised crypto as 'genuine ground-up innovation' and promised the industry now had 'a champion and an ally in the White House.' He credited Trump's victory in part to support from the crypto community and called the GENIUS Act a transformative bill that would 'vastly expand the use of stablecoins' while 'strengthening the American dollar.' But to Long and other industry insiders, the rhetoric doesn't match the reality. 'Operation Choke Point 2.0 is not over yet,' she said. 'I don't know if JD Vance isn't aware or was overstating, but let's hope he gets this message & gets to work on ending it.' Vance's team hasn't responded publicly to Long's posts. Operation Choke Point 2.0 is a term used by the crypto industry to describe what they see as a covert effort by U.S. regulators to cut off digital asset companies from the banking system. While not an official program, it draws its name from the original Operation Choke Point, a 2013 Department of Justice initiative that pressured banks to stop servicing "high-risk" but legal industries like gun dealers and payday lenders. That program was shut down in 2017 after public backlash, but crypto leaders say a new version has quietly taken its place. The '2.0' version is believed to have started around late 2022, when multiple U.S. banking regulators began warning financial institutions about the risks of working with crypto firms. Around the same time, major crypto-friendly banks like Silvergate, Signature, and Silicon Valley Bank either collapsed or were shut down under circumstances that critics say were suspicious. Caitlin Long slams JD Vance over 'Dead' Choke Point 2.0 claim first appeared on TheStreet on May 28, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on May 28, 2025, where it first appeared. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Custodia CEO says Bitcoin is decoupling from Nasdaq
Bitcoin's recent price behavior shows it may be returning to its roots as a hedge, according to Custodia Bank CEO Caitlin Long. In a Roundtable discussion with TheStreet's Rob Nelson, Long pointed out that for the first time in a long while, Bitcoin is trading more like gold than a tech stock. 'Bitcoin's correlation is higher with gold in the last two days than it is with the Nasdaq,' she said. 'Historically, up until the last two days, that has not been the case. Bitcoin traded like a high vol Nasdaq stock and gold was quietly marching up and had outperformed Bitcoin year to date.' The shift comes amid broader market volatility. Stocks dropped sharply while bonds rallied — a decoupling that Long said we haven't seen since COVID-era disruptions. She traced the cause to deliberate actions from U.S. economic authorities. 'The Treasury Department wanted exactly this. They aren't as focused on the stock market as they are focused on getting interest rates down… to heal the banking system, to create more refi opportunities in the mortgage market, and help the U.S. government with this wall of refinancing of Treasury debt.' Long, who has long warned of systemic fragility in traditional finance, said the current move is risky but not yet disastrous. 'Is it risky what they're doing? Yes… But we're not there yet just because we've had a 5% one-day correction.' She also noted that Bitcoin's four-year halving cycle remains intact. 'That is a fundamental cycle. It has to do with the profitability of miners. And you can see when the price goes down, that hash rate exits the market.' Bitcoin halving is a scheduled event that occurs roughly every four years, cutting the reward miners receive for adding new blocks to the blockchain by 50%. This process reduces the rate at which new bitcoins are created, making the asset scarcer over time. Halvings are seen as pivotal for Bitcoin's price and supply dynamics. While she declined to offer a direct price prediction, Long added that Bitcoin's behavior now reflects traders 'looking for insurance' amid rising fears of instability. Custodia Bank is a Wyoming-based digital asset bank founded by Caitlin Long. It focuses on bridging traditional finance and crypto by offering compliant custody and payment solutions for digital assets. The bank is known for pushing regulatory clarity in the crypto-banking sector. Sign in to access your portfolio
