Federally chartered national bank Anchorage Digital says the Federal Reserve's proposed payment account that would give some crypto companies access to the central bank doesn't work.
In a comment letter filed this week in response to the Fed's new payment account structure, the bank said it supports the Fed's efforts to revamp payment system access, but said its proposal would place it and others under a tier that opens it up to intense review and alongside other institutions that don't have a federal supervisor.
"ADB supports the Board's effort to modernize payment system access, but the proposed account, which lacks FedACH access, imposes overnight balance limits, offers no intraday liquidity, and pays no interest on reserve balances, isn't a workable substitute for the Master Account that member national banks have held for over a century," the bank said in a statement.
Last year, Fed Governor Christopher J.
Waller floated the concept, referring to it as a "skinny master account." A master account, which Anchorage applied for in August 2025, gives financial institutions direct access to the Federal Reserve’s payment systems.
