Lowenstein Crypto advises leading digital asset and cryptocurrency projects, exchanges, and trading firms. Our practice covers regulatory advice, transactions and structuring advice, investigations, and adversarial matters including commercial disputes, bankruptcy, and related litigation. As these markets continue their rapid growth and market participants continue to evolve and mature their businesses, we are providing this weekly digest as a resource that highlights and summarizes a selection of key recent legal regulatory developments.

OCC Releases Final Debanking Report

On October 14, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released its final report on its “debanking review.” The review, covering the period from 2020 to September 2025, was carried out under Executive Order 14331, “Guaranteeing Fair Banking for All Americans,” and examined the nine then-largest national banks it supervises. The OCC found that the banks had broad “reputation risk” policies without clear, objective, risk-based criteria and that these policies disadvantaged customers based on their views or their lawful business activities. Digital asset activities were one of the restricted sectors it identified, alongside firearms, coal, Arctic oil and gas, detention facilities, and tobacco. Several of the examined banking institutions restricted banking for digital asset issuers, exchanges, or administrators and often cited financial crime considerations as the reason. The banks have since reported removing or relaxing restrictions on industries including digital assets. However, the OCC warned that some business lines still decline to serve certain digital asset and money services businesses on the basis of claimed operational limits, which the OCC said could entrench industry restrictions where the bank has not properly considered the financial justification. See the OCC’s press release here and the debanking report here.

Circle’s USDC Becomes First Stablecoin To Receive EU’s ‘Significant’ E-Money Token Classification

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has classified USDC, issued in the EU by Circle Internet Financial Europe SAS, as a significant e-money token (EMT) under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) Regulation. USDC is the first of the 45 EMTs registered in the EU to receive this classification. Starting November 12, USDC will be under MiCA’s dual supervision regime for significant EMTs. The EBA will take over direct supervision of Circle’s own funds, reserve of assets, liquidity, and recovery and redemption plans from the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR). The ACPR will keep responsibility for governance, qualifying holdings, fit and proper assessments, outsourcing, and conflicts of interest, and the two authorities will work together to ensure a smooth transition. Because USDC is also issued in the United States by Circle Internet Financial LLC, the EBA has signed a memorandum of understanding with the New York State Department of Financial Services so the two can cooperate and share information on cross-border stablecoin activities. See the press release here.

Australia’s ASIC Releases Consultation on Implementation of New Digital Asset Laws 

On October 15, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) released a consultation on the implementation of new digital asset laws, which proposes new standards for crypto asset exchanges and custodians on how companies must protect customer funds, execute trade orders, and meet financial requirements. Australia’s parliament passed the Digital Assets Framework Act, which creates two new financial products, digital asset platforms and tokenized custody platforms, and establishes a licensing regime for them. The consultation paper seeks feedback on ASIC’s preliminary draft standards and proposes modifications. ASIC describes its approach as principles-based, proportionate, and technology neutral. See the press release here and the consultation paper here.

FSB Releases Report Calling for Cross-Border Information Sharing in Connection With Stablecoins 

On October 12, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) released a report highlighting its concerns that holders of stablecoins can trade pseudonymously across borders 24 hours a day, while reserves and holders’ legal protections stay tied to particular jurisdictions. The report notes that the stablecoin market is at about $300 billion as of mid-2026, with 99 percent of that value pegged to the U.S. dollar. The FSB singles out “multi-issuer” structures, where affiliated issuers share liability for one token but hold separate reserves. In that setup, redemption demand could pile onto a single entity under stress, and holders’ claims in insolvency could be unclear. It also warns that it may be hard to tell which national insolvency regime applies, saying that uncertainty about how different countries’ rules interact has encouraged regulatory arbitrage and issuers moving to lightly regulated jurisdictions and that neither global stablecoins nor national frameworks have been tested under severe stress. On data, the FSB finds that authorities rely mostly on private data providers whose proprietary methods raise comparability and credibility concerns, and that pseudonymity on public blockchains makes it hard to attribute activity to specific uses or locations. Looking ahead, the FSB calls for better cross-border monitoring metrics, more cooperation and information-sharing among authorities, information on emerging approaches to planning for distress or failure, and industry best practices for collecting data on and off the blockchain. See the report here.