Major U.S. cryptocurrency exchange and wallet Coinbase spoke to regulators about obtaining a federal banking charter, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) May 18. At the beginning of April, the WSJ reported that Coinbase was also looking into registering as a licensed brokerage firm and electronic-trading venue with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Earlier this week, Coinbase had announced plans to launch a new suite of products targeting institutional investors like hedge funds. As the WSJ points out, a federal banking license would allow Coinbase to offer its own custody and payment services using an OCC limited-purpose charter, also helping the company attract more institutional customers. It would also allow Coinbase to deal with only one federal regulator, as opposed to a multitude of state ones, as well as offer users federally insured bank accounts.

Source: Wall Street Journal May 19, 2018 14:15 UTC