Kraken Fought the Fed for 5 Years to Get a Master Account. Trump Just Ordered Regulators to Fast-Track It for Everyone.

Crypto firms spent years getting debanked — accounts frozen, wires rejected, banks slamming the door. Now Trump just signed an executive order telling the Federal Reserve to let them in the back.

On May 19, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Integrating Financial Technology Innovation into Regulatory Frameworks” — directing the Fed to evaluate extending direct access to its wholesale payment system, including Fedwire and Fed master accounts, to crypto firms and non-bank fintechs.

This isn’t hypothetical. Kraken already has one.

What’s a Fed Master Account and Why Does It Matter?

A Federal Reserve master account is how banks move money through the core U.S. payment infrastructure. With one, a firm can send and receive Fedwire transfers — the system that processes trillions of dollars in interbank payments every day — without going through an intermediary bank.

For crypto companies, this is everything. Right now, even the biggest exchanges depend on legacy banks to touch the dollar system. Those banks can — and have — cut them off with little notice. A Fed master account removes that single point of failure entirely.

Kraken became the first crypto firm in history to receive a Fed master account on March 4, 2026, when the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City approved a limited-purpose account for Kraken Financial, its Wyoming-chartered banking arm. The application took five years and more regulatory scrutiny than most banks face in a decade.

Trump’s executive order is essentially asking: why should everyone else have to wait five years?

What the Order Actually Does

The order sets a clear calendar for regulators:

• Within 90 days — agencies must identify rules and policies that block fintech and crypto firms from accessing U.S. financial infrastructure
• Within 120 days — the Federal Reserve must submit a report evaluating the legal authority to expand master account access to non-bank fintechs and digital asset firms
• Within 180 days — agencies must begin simplifying regulations and removing entry barriers

It also asks the Fed to identify what “impediments” exist that prevent direct access — a move widely read as targeting the informal resistance that has slowed firms like Ripple and Anchorage from receiving similar approvals.

Who’s Next in Line

Per public filings, at least three crypto-native firms are actively pursuing Fed master accounts:

• Ripple — seeking direct payment access to underpin its XRP Ledger-based settlement
• Anchorage Digital — the first federally chartered crypto bank (OCC, 2021), still operating through intermediary banks for payment rails
• Wise (fintech, not crypto-native) — publicly named as a firm hoping to win master account access

Coinbase holds a national trust charter issued by the OCC (as revealed by Senator Warren’s letter last week). Whether that positions them for a master account bid is now a very live question.

The Debanking Reversal

The timing is striking. Less than two years ago, crypto firms were documenting a coordinated pattern of banking access being cut off — dubbed “Operation Chokepoint 2.0” by industry critics. Coinbase, Kraken, and others publicly described being denied or losing banking relationships without explanation.

Now the same White House is directing the Federal Reserve to open its doors.

The 90-day regulatory review period begins immediately. Expect the first formal reports by late August 2026, with policy action to follow in November.

Why This Matters for Crypto Jobs

Fed master account access reshapes the entire compliance and operations stack for crypto firms — and that means hiring:

• Banking operations specialists who understand Fedwire, ACH, and payment system integration
• Regulatory affairs and compliance leads to manage Fed oversight requirements
• Core infrastructure engineers to build direct payment rail integrations (no more bank middleware)
• Treasury and liquidity management roles — direct Fed access changes how firms handle float, settlement, and reserve management

Firms like Ripple, Anchorage, and any exchange actively pursuing a master account will be building out these teams in 2026. That’s not future speculation — it’s the only way to operate once you have the account.

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