Coinbase Backs Fed Payment Accounts with Caveats

Coinbase has filed comment letters in support of the Federal Reserve's proposed payment accounts for crypto and fintech companies, but also advocates for changes to make the framework workable.

The exchange wants payment accounts to earn interest on at least some threshold level of balances, have overnight balance limits based on actual payment needs, and oversight commensurate with real risk.

Coinbase Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad said that getting these details right can lower costs, strengthen competition, and keep the U.S. at the frontier of global payments.

The Federal Reserve proposed limited-purpose 'payment accounts' to enable eligible financial institutions to clear and settle payments directly through its infrastructure without full master-account status.