Trump opened a federal review of crypto firms’ access to payment infrastructure

President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14405 on May 19, 2026, opening a federal review of rules and supervisory practices affecting financial-technology firms, including companies providing digital-asset and blockchain-based services.

The order’s most consequential crypto provision concerned access to Reserve Bank payment accounts and payment services. It requested that the Federal Reserve evaluate the legal and policy framework governing access for uninsured depository institutions and non-bank financial companies, expressly including firms engaged in digital assets and other novel financial activities. That placed a longstanding infrastructure question—who may connect directly to central-bank payment services—inside a formal presidential policy process.

What the order required

Executive Order 14405 defined federal financial regulators as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Securities and Exchange Commission, National Credit Union Administration, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Their leaders were directed to review regulations, guidance, supervisory practices and application processes within 90 days.

The review was supposed to identify measures that unduly impeded fintech partnerships with regulated institutions, as well as processes that could be streamlined for firms seeking charters, insurance, licenses, registrations or other federal authorizations. The order required regulators to balance the stated innovation objective against safety and soundness, consumer and investor protection, market integrity, financial stability and oversight. It directed them to take responsive steps within 180 days, in consultation with the White House economic-policy adviser.

The Federal Reserve was treated differently. The order requested, rather than commanded, that the Board conduct the same regulatory review and complete a separate evaluation of Reserve Bank services. Within 120 days, the Board was asked to report its findings, options and recommendations to the president through the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy.

That evaluation was to address the Federal Reserve’s legal authority to serve covered firms directly, possible access models with risk controls, legal impediments and potential legislative or regulatory solutions. It also asked whether the 12 regional Reserve Banks could act independently on applications and how the Board could ensure consistent treatment among districts.

Why payment access mattered for digital assets

Reserve Bank accounts and services sit near the foundation of dollar payments. The order therefore reached beyond the classification or exchange trading of crypto assets. It raised an institutional question affecting how an eligible digital-asset business might connect to payment infrastructure, settle obligations and interact with regulated financial institutions.

Direct access could potentially reduce dependence on intermediary banks, but the May 19 record did not establish that any crypto company qualified for an account. The requested review had to determine what existing law permitted and what risk-management requirements would apply. If the Federal Reserve concluded that direct access was already lawful, the order requested transparent application procedures and decisions on complete applications within 90 days of submission.

The development also mattered because the six-agency review covered partnerships between fintech firms and banks, credit unions, broker-dealers, investment advisers and futures commission merchants. Digital-asset custody, trading, payments and blockchain services could therefore be affected by subsequent agency action even when direct Federal Reserve access was not involved.

What the order did not do

Executive Order 14405 did not grant a Reserve Bank account to a crypto exchange, stablecoin issuer, custodian or blockchain company. It did not amend the Federal Reserve Act, approve a charter, create deposit insurance, authorize a token or displace existing licensing and supervisory requirements.

The order also stated that implementation had to remain consistent with applicable law and that it created no enforceable substantive or procedural right. Claims that the order immediately opened Federal Reserve payment rails to crypto firms would consequently exceed the May 19 evidence.

Later documentary context

The order was published in the Federal Register on May 22, 2026, preserving the signed May 19 text as Executive Order 14405. That later publication confirms the event-day record but does not establish how regulators or the Federal Reserve ultimately responded. The appropriate follow-up evidence would be the requested reviews, Federal Reserve report, agency rulemaking or guidance, and decisions on identifiable applications.