Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks predicted a lineup of cryptocurrency banking and clarification actions will emerge from the Trump Administration during its final days.
The chief national banking regulator said Friday on CNBCâs Squawk Box:
âI donât think we need 50 regulations, but what we do need is clarity about whatâs allowed,â he said. Brooks cited banks plugging âdirectly into blockchains as payment networksâ as one place where âthe answer has to be yes.â
Brooks seemed to imply the crypto banking clarity coming âin the next six to eight weeksâ would have a positive impact on bitcoinâs price.
âIt may have been a bubble two years ago, but with more clarity institutions that see this is a real thing are going to adopt at scale, which theyâve already started to do so,â Brooks said. He said regulatory clarity âare the things that are driving prices at this point.â
See also: A Crypto Ally as Top US Bank Regulator?
Brooks refused to directly answer the show hostsâ questions about the rumored self-hosted wallet regulation supposedly coming out of the Treasury Department. Last week, Brooksâ former boss, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, publicly suggested on Twitter that Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin was ready to stifle crypto innovation with a slap-dash final regulatory push.
âWeâre very focused on getting this right, weâre very focused on not killing this and itâs equally important that we develop the networks behind bitcoin and other cryptos as it is that we prevent money laundering and terrorism financing. So believe me, thereâs a balance here and itâs going to work for everybody,â he said.