Trump Orders Fed to Review Crypto Firms’ Access to Master Accounts

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In brief - U.S. President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order Tuesday directing federal financial regulators to review and update rules for integrating digital assets and fintech into traditional financial services. - Federal regulators have 90 days to identify regulations that impede fintech partnerships with federally regulated institutions, followed by 180 days to encourage innovation based on findings. - The Federal Reserve must evaluate within 120 days whether it has legal authority to grant non-bank financial companies, including digital asset firms, direct access to Federal Reserve payment accounts. U.S. President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order Tuesday mandating federal financial regulators to streamline rules within 90 days, potentially opening Federal Reserve payment systems to digital asset companies. The order requires the Federal Reserve, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and National Credit Union Administration to complete their regulatory reviews by mid-August. The Federal Reserve faces the most specific mandate: submit a report within 120 days evaluating its legal authority to extend direct access to Federal Reserve payment accounts for non-bank financial companies, including digital asset firms. If existing law permits such access, the Fed must create transparent application procedures and render decisions within 90 days of receiving complete applications. "The Federal Government must update regulations to allow integration of digital assets and innovative technology into traditional financial services and payment systems," Trump stated in the order. The directive also calls for removing "overly burdensome and fragmented regulations and supervisory practices that form barriers to entry and primarily benefit incumbent financial services firms." Ari Redbord, Global Head of Policy and Government Affairs at blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs, called the order a “concrete step” towards putting the U.S. at the forefront of digital asset adoption. He framed digital asset dominance as an “American strategic interest,” pointing to the sector's explosive growth that has seen stablecoins achieve transaction volume of $33 trillion in 2025 and a market capitalization exceding $300 billion. The Fed and crypto firms The Federal Reserve has already begun granting limited access to crypto firms, with the Kansas City Fed approving a "limited purpose account" for Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, in March 2026. The move came after the Fed’s board of governors last year mooted "skinny" master accounts designed to enable access for select firms, marking a departure from the central bank's historically restrictive stance toward digital asset companies seeking direct payment system access. To date, crypto companies including Coinbase, Circle, Ripple, Paxos, the Stripe-owned Bridge and Crypto.com have received conditional approval for national trust bank charters from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The approval enables them to offer some bank-like services including federally regulated digital asset custody, staking, and trade settlement. In a letter to the OCC yesterday, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) argued that the approvals violated the National Bank Act and pose "serious risks" to the safety of the U.S. banking system. Trump-linked DeFi firm World Liberty Financial also has a pending application which Warren has urged Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould to either reject or review, describing it as being "at the center of perhaps the most disgraceful Presidential corruption scandal in U.S. history."

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