Fed Broadens Review of ‘Skinny’ Payment Accounts, Boosting Hopes for Crypto Firms

The Federal Reserve is broadening its review of a limited form of payment account.

CoinDesk reported on May 20 that the Fed released a new proposal for limited-purpose payment accounts and opened a 60-day public comment period.

The account is a scaled-down version of the Fed master accounts held by commercial banks and is known in the industry as a “skinny” account.

The Fed said companies with a range of business models could use the account to process payments faster and at lower cost.

Still, institutions holding the account would not receive the same powers as commercial banks. Account holders would not have access to intraday credit or the discount window, and would not earn interest on deposits held at the central bank, the Fed said. They would also be limited to payment services equipped with automated overdraft protections.

The Fed first released a related proposal in December 2025 and revised parts of it after gathering industry feedback. In particular, the method for calculating balance caps and the standards for maximum balances were eased.

The cryptocurrency industry is watching whether access to the Fed’s payment network will expand. In March, Kraken secured access to a limited form of master account through the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

The Fed has asked regional Federal Reserve banks to pause review of some applications until the related rules are finalized.

Separately, President Donald Trump on May 19 ordered a review, through an executive order, of how the Fed grants access to payment accounts for nonbank financial companies and uninsured depository institutions.