The US government is open to integrate cryptocurrency companies, exchanges and trading platforms into the country’s banking industry, CoinDesk reports.
Acting Comptroller of the Currency for the US Treasury Department Keith Noreika has said he is open to the idea that a new breed of banks might one day conduct business in Bitcoin (TIKER: BTC.EXANTE) and other cryptocurrencies.
At a 2017 event hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Noreika said that they are actively studying effective methods of implementing a national licensing program for bitcoin businesses.
Under the plan, the cryptocurrency players will be regulated by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Currently, bitcoin companies and traditional money transmitters need to comply with a complicated network of regulatory regimes in all 50 US States, a pain point that industry advocates have argued severely limits startup growth by increasing the cost of market entrance.
The Japanese government has already issued operating licenses to 11 bitcoin exchanges.