Bank's Crypto Partnership Withdrawal

FDIC
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
350 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1200, New York, NY 10118

New York Regional Office
Division of Risk Management Supervision
Division of Depositor and Consumer Protection

September 20, 2022

Board of Directors
XXXXX

Subject: Response to Notification Regarding Crypto-Related Activities

Dear Members of the Board:

We are in receipt of your letter dated May 20, 2022, notifying us of your intent to withdraw from your partnership with XXXXX. The partnership would have provided your customers the ability to effect online purchases and sales of Bitcoin. Your letter stated that executive management and the Board determined that, due to current crypto asset market volatility and the evolving regulatory framework, offering these services to your customers through XXXXX was not conducive to the success of the program. However, Bank management has indicated that the XXXXX partnership may be revisited in the future.

Financial Institution Letter FIL-16-2022, Notification of Engaging in Crypto-Related Activities, requests that all FDIC-supervised institutions that intend to engage in any activities involving or related to crypto-assets (also referred to as “digital assets”) notify the appropriate FDIC Regional Director. Accordingly, we request the Bank notify this office prior to resuming the XXXXX relationship or engaging in any other crypto asset-related service in the future.

Written correspondence should be addressed to my attention at the New York Regional Office and sent as a PDF document through the FDIC’s Secure Email portal (securemail.fdic.gov) using the following e-mail address: XXXXX@FDIC.gov. Information about how to use secure email and FAQs about the service can be found at https://www.fdic.gov/secureemail/.

This letter is confidential and may not be disclosed or made public in any manner under part 309 of the FDIC Rules and Regulations (12 CFR part 309). If you have any questions, please contact Case Manager XXXXX at XXXXX.

Sincerely,
Frank R. Hughes
Regional Director

cc: XXXXX