US regulator was cautious on crypto but did not tell banks to choke off sector, documents show

A top U.S. bank regulator told multiple lenders to pause dabbling directly in crypto in 2022 and 2023, but did not direct them to stop providing banking services to crypto companies, according to documents released on Friday. A judge ordered the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to provide versions of 25 supervisory “pause letters” it sent to unidentified banks after History Associates Incorporated, a research firm hired by crypto exchange Coinbase, sued the agency to release them. The FDIC first released the letters in December but was ordered by the judge to resubmit them with more “nuanced redactions.”