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Thaler shares CU insights ahead of HFSC hearing on digital assets
NAFCU Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler Tuesday wrote to House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and Ranking Member Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., to share the association’s thoughts ahead of today’s hearing on digital assets and the future of finance, specifically reviewing the challenges and benefits of financial innovation.
In the letter, Thaler highlights members' increased demand for saying “the number and value of ACH, debit card, and wire transfers from share accounts to cryptocurrency exchange platforms,” have increased. According to Thaler, credit unions have a particularly difficult time connecting with members who “are more frequently transferring ever greater sums from share accounts to cryptocurrency exchange platforms with no connection to their communities and subject to little, if any, regulatory oversight.”
Despite several attempts from the OCC and FDIC to establish guidance around stablecoins or digital assets, the NCUA has not given credit unions similar permissions to provide custodial services for digital assets. In response to the latest President’s Working Group on Financial Markets’ (PWG) Report on Stablecoins, NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger wrote to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen pointing out the risks of excluding credit unions from the legislation requiring all payment stablecoin issuers to be insured depository institutions.
Thaler, who calls the move a “piecemeal approach”, says that if left unchecked, it will result in competitive disadvantages and stifle innovation. NAFCU urges Congress to find ways to provide regulatory certainty and balance across the financial services system with respect to digital assets.
Read the full letter. NAFCU will monitor today’s hearing, scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, and will continue to update credit unions on this topic via NAFCU Today.