Letter aims to clarify issuance of digital assets

(Dec. 17, 2021) To clarify existing authority about federally insured credit unions (FICUs) establishing relationships with third-party providers of digital asset services to their members, NCUA issued a letter to credit unions Thursday.

The agency, in letter to credit unions (LTCU) 21-CU-16 said the relationships are allowed under current regulation “provided certain conditions are met.”

“This includes third-party provided services to allow FICU members to buy, sell, and hold uninsured digital assets with the third-party provider outside of the FICU,” NCUA wrote. “Digital assets are one of many terms used to describe distributed ledger technology (DLT) based tokens.”

The agency said its role as an insurer does not prohibit FICUs from establishing the relationships. “The authority for federal credit unions (FCUs) to establish these relationships is described in section II of this letter,” the agency wrote.

“The authority for federally insured, state-chartered credit unions (FISCUs) to establish these relationships will depend upon the laws and regulations of their states,” it added.

LINK:

Relationships with Third Parties that Provide Services Related to Digital Assets