The Floodgates Open: US Regulators Approve Bitcoin Custody for Banks
The OCC, Fed, and FDIC just ended their war on crypto custody. Here’s why this stunning reversal marks a turning point for Bitcoin and a defeat for central planners.
U.S. Regulators Finally Embrace Bitcoin Custody – will we finally be free of stupid government threats of oppressive regulations? In a joint statement on July 14, 2025 the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Reserve (Fed), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued a joint statement reaffirming that banks can provide custody and safekeeping services for crypto-assets like Bitcoin.
This represents a significant shift from prior speculations about banning crypto and/or imposing heavy regulation. Bitcoin is a scarce, decentralized store of value immune to the inflationary pressures plaguing fiat currencies a/k/a the U.S. Dollar. Michael Saylor posted on X, "The OCC, Fed, and FDIC reaffirm that banks may offer custody and safekeeping of crypto-assets—such as Bitcoin—under existing risk management expectations."
This announcement shows how far Bitcoin has come since it was created in 2009. For years, U.S. banking regulators approached cryptocurrencies with skepticism, viewing them as high-risk novelties prone to volatility, fraud, and illicit use. In 2020, the OCC initially permitted national banks to provide crypto custody services, but a series of pauses and stringent requirements followed. For example, in 2022, the FDIC mandated prior notifications for any crypto-related activities, effectively ending institutional involvement. It didn’t help when Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan often called Bitcoin a decentralized Ponzi scheme, at the same time, his bank was trading it.
History has shown that it is not a Ponzi scheme in any way, but rather a threat to traditional finance, and it is now being embraced.