The Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp, the holding company for Metropolitan Commercial Bank , has announced the shutting down of its crypto-asset-related vertical, according to Coin Telegraph . In 2021, the crypto industry went through another turbulent year.

To mention a few, there is a lasting market downturn, exploits in decentralized finance (DeFi), and the FTX going bankrupt. These events made some rethink how sustainable is crypto for business. The Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp, the holding company for New York-based Metropolitan Commercial Bank (MCB), recently announced that it decided to completely shut down its crypto arm.

According to Metro Central Bank’s statement, the company based its decision on the recent developments in the crypto asset industry, alongside changes in the regulatory landscape regarding banks’ involvement in crypto asset-related businesses. According to MCB, the process has been ongoing since 2017, and it expects little financial impact. It currently has four active institutional crypto asset-related clients, which account for around 1.

5% of total revenues and 6% of total deposits. This latest announcement comes alongside ongoing effects from the FTX case, which has kept the spotlight on the crypto industry. According to experts, regulators will increase scrutiny over crypto in the United States in 2023.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Internal Revenue Service, especially, will seek to increase their oversight and cryptocurrency regulations. On 3 January 2023, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation have released a joint statement involving crypto assets. In light of the crypto winter of 2022, the statement also acted as their promise to commit to grounded banking practices.

In addition to the scrutiny on FTX, Binance is also being placed under the regulators’ spotlight for alleged money laundering violations in the US. This has brought further examinations as to the relationships of hedge funds with the crypto exchange. Despite the industry scrutiny, some industry insiders have high hopes for decentralised finance in 2023.

More about FTX and its repercussions The Paypers has been closely following the FTX scandal and its repercussions in the industry as a whole. On 16 November, shortly after the scandal erupted, our team piled together the most relevant news of the event. Douwe Lycklama, a founding partner at INNOPAY, formulated, for The Paypers, a lucid analysis of the context that lead to the FTX collapse, while detailing the important lessons that the crypto and larger economic market should learn and act on in the coming future.

For more information about the crypto industry, we encourage you to download our Payments Industry Crypto Monitor. .