Bank of America receives OCC approval to conduct cryptocurrency intermediary business.

On December 10, Bloomberg Legal reported that new guidelines from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) allow U.S. banks to provide cryptocurrency trading intermediary services, further clarifying how traditional lending institutions can legally participate in digital asset transactions. The OCC memo states that banks can act as brokers, purchasing assets from one counterparty and simultaneously selling those assets to another. During this process, the lending institution will not hold any crypto assets.