Lawmakers Push to Ease SAB 121 Banking Rules for Digital Asset Custody

U.S. lawmakers are demanding that the Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation overhaul legacy capital and accounting rules blocking traditional banks from offering digital asset custody at scale. Under the current Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121 (SAB 121) framework, banks that custody digital assets must list them as liabilities on their balance sheets, forcing prohibitively expensive dollar-for-dollar capital reserves. The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act) recently advanced through Senate Banking Committee markup, aiming to clarify that digital assets held in custodial capacity cannot be treated as bank liabilities. The legislation faces internal Senate resistance over consumer protections and stablecoin yield restrictions, with Section 404 introducing a strict prohibition on crypto companies offering yield-like rewards to stablecoin holders.
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