Trump Media Pulls Crypto ETF Filings

Executive Order Targets Fintech and Crypto Payment Access

President Donald Trump signed a May 19 executive order directing federal financial regulators to review and update rules for integrating digital assets and fintech into traditional financial services and payment systems. The order says “The Federal Government must update regulations to allow integration of digital assets and innovative technology into traditional financial services and payment systems.”

The order targets “overly burdensome and fragmented regulations and supervisory practices that form barriers to entry and primarily benefit incumbent financial services firms.” Federal regulators have 90 days to identify regulations, guidance, supervisory practices and application processes that impede fintech partnerships with federally regulated institutions.

Agency heads then have 180 days to act on the findings in coordination with the White House Assistant for Economic Policy. The review covers the SEC, CFTC, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, FDIC, OCC and National Credit Union Administration.

The review must address barriers to bank charters, credit union charters, deposit insurance, licenses and other approvals for eligible fintech firms. The order keeps safety, soundness, consumer protection and market integrity as stated guardrails.

The Federal Reserve must complete a parallel review within 120 days on whether it has legal authority to grant uninsured depositories and non-bank financial companies, including digital asset firms, direct access to Federal Reserve payment accounts and Reserve Bank payment services. The order also asks whether individual Federal Reserve Banks can act independently on applications for payment access.

Where existing law permits expanded access, the Fed is asked to publish transparent application procedures. Complete applications would then need to receive a decision within 90 days. Master accounts are Federal Reserve accounts that let eligible institutions settle payments directly through the central bank instead of relying on another bank to move money through the U.S. financial system.

Luke Nolan, senior researcher at CoinShares, said the order preserves formal Fed independence because it asks for a review rather than forcing access. “Final authority on master account access still sits with the Fed, and the Executive Order doesn’t change that,” Nolan said.

Nolan said the pressure on the Fed is “somewhat real” but works through optics rather than legal force because a public report deadline means any denial now has to be defended publicly. He said the precedent matters more than immediate legal impact, calling the White House’s public role in a supervisory and risk-management decision “certainly different to what we are used to.” Without looser Fed risk standards, Nolan said, the order is “largely political messaging.”

Wesley Rios, U.S. and partnerships lead at Morph, said the order places Fed access “formally on the table,” but any real path for crypto firms still depends on whether the Fed changes its access standards and finds “enough legal clarity” for nonbank firms.

Dan Dadybayo, strategy lead at Horizontal Systems, said the order could “indirectly accelerate tokenization” by creating “a much smoother path for tokenized assets to interact with traditional markets.” Dadybayo said platforms focused on tokenized treasuries, securities and settlement infrastructure could “benefit disproportionately” if fintech-payment links become easier.

Dadybayo said, “For most of crypto’s history, the industry built systems outside traditional financial infrastructure.” He described the review as a possible shift from “crypto outside the system to crypto inside the rails.”

Ari Redbord, Global Head of Policy and Government Affairs at TRM Labs, called the order a “concrete step” toward putting the U.S. at the forefront of digital asset adoption. Redbord described digital asset dominance as an “American strategic interest,” citing stablecoins’ $33 trillion in 2025 transaction volume and market capitalization exceeding $300 billion.

Custodia Bank founder Caitlin Long welcomed the directive after arguing that the Federal Reserve had blocked legally eligible institutions from the U.S. payment system. Custodia lost a 2023 court fight for master account approval.

The Federal Reserve had already begun limited crypto access before the new order. The Kansas City Fed approved a “limited purpose account” for Payward, Kraken’s parent company, in March 2026, following the Fed board’s earlier discussion of “skinny” master accounts for select firms.

Crypto companies including Coinbase, Circle, Ripple, Paxos, Stripe-owned Bridge and Crypto.com have received conditional approval for national trust bank charters from the OCC. Those approvals allow some bank-like services such as federally regulated digital asset custody, staking and trade settlement.

Senator Elizabeth Warren argued in a letter to the OCC that those approvals violated the National Bank Act and posed “serious risks” to the safety of the U.S. banking system. World Liberty Financial also has a pending application, and Warren has urged Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould to reject or review it while describing the Trump-linked DeFi firm as being “at the center of perhaps the most disgraceful Presidential corruption scandal in U.S. history.”