Under Brooks’ leadership, the OCC began allowing banks to provide cryptocurrency custody services and store cryptographic keys in July 2020. And this January, the OCC first permitted banks to use stablecoins for payments.
Speculation is a prominent influence on cryptocurrency prices. As seen with the collapse of Bitcoin’s price in 2018, following a bull run from around $1,000 to just shy of $20,000 in 2017, experienced and inexperienced traders alike can go long for too long – expecting the price to keep rising and fearing missing out on the party.

Unlike the money you save in a bank insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), “If a virtual currency company fails – and many have – the government will not cover the loss,” the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned in a 2014 notice about cryptocurrency (its most recent guidance).
A blockchain is a shared digital register of recorded data. For cryptocurrencies, this is the transaction history for every unit of the cryptocurrency, which shows how ownership has changed over time. Blockchain works by recording transactions in ‘blocks’, with new blocks added at the front of the chain.