Several U.S. lawmakers are displeased by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and its focus on crypto and fintech during a pandemic-caused recession.
Six members of Congress faulted the banking regulator’s stance on crypto custody and stablecoin services, as well as its plans to offer a fintech charter, in a sharply-worded letter Tuesday that questioned whether acting chief Brian Brooks has his priorities straight during COVID-19’s health and economic crises.
Brooks has no business bolstering crypto banking while millions of Americans are still waiting for economic relief, wrote Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) in a letter cosigned by Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mas.), Jesús García (D-Ill.) and Barbra Lee (D-Calif.). They blasted OCC’s “unilateral actions” as short-sighted calls that they said could put “the entire…