Marco Santori, the Chief Legal Officer for Kraken, recently spoke about the challenges that crypto companies face when trying to establish relationships with banks in the United States.
In a podcast interview, Santori noted that recent regulatory actions have caused banks to become hesitant to accept crypto companies as new clients. This, in turn, is giving an advantage to established players in the U.S. crypto market, such as Coinbase and Kraken.
Santori explained that banks are wary of dealing with crypto companies due to regulatory uncertainty and concerns about compliance.
The regulatory landscape for cryptocurrencies in the U.S. is complex and rapidly evolving, with different states and federal agencies taking different approaches. This has created a confusing and challenging environment for banks and other financial institutions.
As a result, many banks are reluctant to take on new crypto clients or to expand their relationships with existing clients in the industry.
This puts new entrants at a disadvantage, as they may struggle to find banking partners and access the same range of services as established players.
However, Santori noted that some incumbent players in the U.S. crypto market, such as Coinbase and Kraken, have already established relationships with banks and are therefore better positioned to navigate the current regulatory environment.
These companies have invested in compliance and regulatory infrastructure and have built a track record of working within the existing framework.
