PWG on Digital Asset Markets

Summary

SIFMA and joint associations provided comments to the President’s Working Group (PWG) on Digital Asset Markets Chair in support of the the goals of the PWG on Digital Asset Markets and propose recommendations to bolster U.S. leadership in digital assets by removing obstacles to bank engagement with digital asset activities.

SIFMA signed with:

• American Bankers Association (ABA)
• Americas Focus Committee of the Association of Global Custodians
• Bank Policy Institute (BPI)
• Financial Services Forum
• The Clearing House Association

See Press Release: Financial Institutions Support Administration’s Effort to Maintain U.S. Leadership in Digital Assets (Feb. 20, 2025)

Excerpt

Via electronic transmission

February 20, 2025

David Sacks

Special Advisor for Artificial Intelligence and Crypto

Chair, President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. Sacks:

Congratulations on your recent appointment as Special Advisor for Artificial Intelligence and Crypto and for being named Chair of the newly established President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets. We strongly support the President’s goals for the PWG, and we stand ready to assist you as you proceed with the workplan outlined by the President in his January 23rd Executive Order. ¹

We write today with two initial suggestions for your consideration. First, we wish to identify guidance and policies that affect digital assets that we believe require rescission or substantial revision, consistent with the E.O.’s mandate for the PWG. These include policy statements and guidance documents issued by the federal banking agencies that have significant implications for U.S. banks’ ability to engage in digital asset-related activity and otherwise support the digital asset sector, including by engaging with crypto firms on a variety of basic banking activities and services. ²  In a subsequent submission, we will provide more detailed input for your consideration on additional regulatory actions and legislative proposals that we believe would further advance the policies articulated in the E.O.

Second, we note that the federal banking agencies – namely, the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency – are not identified as members of the PWG. But, given that banks’ involvement in digital asset related activities is critical to helping the United States cement its leadership position in the global digital assets ecosystem, we urge you to reconsider their involvement. We believe these agencies’ participation in the PWG – and any other digital-asset and crypto-related work undertaken by the Administration – is imperative to help the PWG develop a comprehensive digital assets framework for all market participants and advance one of the Administration’s priorities to “support the responsible growth and use of digital assets, blockchain technology, and related technologies across all sectors of the economy.” ³

I. The Federal Banking Agencies’ Policies and Guidance that Affect the Digital Asset Sector Should Be Rescinded or Substantially Revised.

Specific policies and guidance issued by the federal banking agencies that “affect the digital asset sector” have made it exceedingly difficult for banks to engage in digital asset related activities, ⁴ despite the clear legal authority of banks to do. ⁵

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