Avanti, the first cryptocurrency company to file an application for Federal Reserve member-bank status within the United States Federal Reserve System (the Fed), said its chief executive officer and founder, Caitlin Long.
1/ TODAY @AvantiBT CONFIRMED A REPORT in today’s @WSJ that it filed an application to become a Federal Reserve member bank. 💪 Here are links to Avanti’s statement & the WSJ story:https://t.co/WNYRVTNnCFhttps://t.co/1V62pLys4F
— Caitlin Long 🔑 (@CaitlinLong_) August 28, 2021
Avanti emphasised that the new application differs from the request to grant the company access to the Fed’s payments system via a master account. The latter was filed in October 2020 and remains under review.
«Avanti is equally aligned with the requirements for membership and access to the payments system. […] By applying to participate in the Fed, the company accepts what has already been informally adopted, namely the same standards of capital regulation, compliance and supervisory scrutiny that apply to traditional banks. By approving the application, the Fed will open access to regulation and other requirements applicable to the digital-asset industry participants», —
0говорится
0in a press release.
The company filed the application on August 5, 2021, but did not announce it until last Saturday, after The Wall Street Journal published information about it.
The Wall Street Journal noted the efforts of bank lobbyists who seek to block crypto firms from direct access to payment services.
Institutions like Avanti and Kraken currently have to work with traditional banks that hold Fed master accounts.
Some bankers argue that the cryptocurrency sector is too young and its participants do not meet the standards required to combat money laundering and other illicit activity.
«It is reasonable to expect that such applicants pose heightened risks in anti-money laundering, cybersecurity and consumer protection, as well as safekeeping and reliability», — говорится in a letter from the Institute of Banking Policy, which represents the interests of major U.S. lending institutions.
Long called the banks’ stance hypocritical. She says the industry lobbyists “do not tire of repeating that cryptocurrency companies must meet higher standards than traditional banks,” yet the latter themselves offer clients services tied to digital assets.
6/ And, even funnier—my pals at various banks keep calling to ask for my help with #crypto, while at the very same time their own lobbyists are attacking us with falsehoods & trying to slow down our regulatory process. Hypocrisy much??!!🤪🤦♀️
— Caitlin Long 🔑 (@CaitlinLong_) August 28, 2021
Earlier, Long criticised the Fed for its biased stance toward cryptocurrency companies.
In November 2020, the Wyoming State Banking Board unanimously approved Avanti’s charter and business plan, providing it with official financial-institution status.
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