Coinbase Urges Fed to Modernize US Payments to Match European Standards

Coinbase, the largest US crypto exchange, has urged the Federal Reserve to modernize US domestic payment infrastructure by granting non-bank financial institutions access to special-purpose Reserve Bank payment accounts. Coinbase argues this access, which is already available in regions like the EU and UK, is vital for fintech and crypto firms to utilize core payment rails without relying on costly and risky intermediary banks. However, the exchange warns that the Fed's current proposal contains unnecessarily constraining limitations, such as low overnight balance limits and lack of interest on end-of-day balances, which risk making the account "dead on arrival." Coinbase specifically criticized the use of balance-sheet metrics for limiting access, arguing payment risks are operational, not credit-related, and advocated for holding "omnibus" customer balances to improve settlement efficiency.

(Source：BeInCrypto)