PANews reported on December 9th, citing Cointelegraph, that Jonathan Gould, Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), stated that cryptocurrency companies seeking U.S. federal banking licenses should be treated the same as other financial institutions. Speaking at a blockchain conference on Monday, he noted that new license applicants in the digital or fintech sector can be seen as offering novel services to national trust banks, and that custody and safekeeping services have been conducted electronically for years. He argued that differentiating digital assets is unreasonable and that banks should not be confined to past technologies and businesses.

Gould stated that the banking system is capable of evolving from the telegraph era to the blockchain era. So far this year, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has received 14 applications for new bank establishment, some from entities engaged in novel or digital asset businesses, a number almost identical to similar applications over the past four years. Issuing licenses helps the banking system keep pace with the development of the financial industry and support the modern economy; entities engaged in digital asset and other emerging technology-related activities should have a path to become federally regulated banks.