Court closes Custodia fight with Federal Reserve just as Fed opens master-account door
A federal appeals court rejected Custodia's final bid against the Fed's master account authority just as the Fed begins opening limited accounts to crypto firms.Summary
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit declined to hear crypto bank Custodia's final appeal, effectively ending its years-long legal battle against the Federal Reserve's authority to grant or deny master accounts. A dissenting judge argued that granting Reserve Banks unreviewable discretion over these accounts is problematic for financial regulation and the state-federal balance. This legal defeat for Custodia coincides with the Federal Reserve system signaling a shift toward granting crypto firms access to central bank payment rails. Specifically, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City recently granted a limited master account to Kraken's banking arm, and the national-level Fed board is developing a policy for similar "skinny" master accounts for crypto firms, though the timeline for applications remains unclear.
(Source：CoinDesk)