Congress bill eyes national crypto payment licenses

TLDR

A new bipartisan bill in Congress would create optional national payment licenses for crypto and fintech firms, potentially giving them direct access to Federal Reserve payment rails.

1. The Payments Access and Consumer Efficiency (PACE) Act proposes an OCC?supervised federal license that lets eligible nonbank payment and crypto companies use Fedwire, FedNow, and FedACH.
2. Licensed firms would need 1:1 reserves and robust compliance, but could bypass many state?by?state money transmitter licenses, potentially cutting fees and speeding up crypto?linked payments.
3. The bill has broad industry support but still faces a full congressional process, with pushback likely from banks that risk losing payment fee revenue and control over access to Fed rails.

Deep Dive

1. What The Bill Actually Does

Representatives Young Kim and Sam Liccardo introduced the bipartisan Payments Access and Consumer Efficiency (PACE) Act, which creates an optional federal supervisory framework for nonbank payment firms, including crypto companies. The framework is overseen by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and would grant qualifying firms access to Fedwire, FedNow, and FedACH payment systems under a national license model. News reports note that firms would typically need more than 40 state money transmitter licenses or a comparable charter to qualify, targeting large processors and major crypto intermediaries already operating nationally.[^1]

2. Why It Matters For Crypto Users

Today, only banks connect directly to the Fed, so payment and crypto firms must use bank partners that can charge markups of up to 100 times the Feds own per?item fee.[^2] Under the PACE Act, registered providers would hold 1:1 reserves in safe, liquid assets and meet strict risk?management and recordkeeping standards while sending dollars over Fed rails themselves.[^2][^3] Industry groups like the Blockchain Association and Crypto Council for Innovation argue this could make crypto?linked payments faster and cheaper, while strengthening consumer protections through segregation of customer funds and clear recovery priority if a provider fails.[^3]

3. Timeline And Key Risks

The PACE Act has just been introduced and now moves into the committee process, where traditional banking lobbies are expected to challenge provisions that dilute their gatekeeping role over Fed access.[^2][^3] It also sits alongside other pending US crypto bills, such as broader market?structure and stablecoin frameworks, which compete for limited floor time in an election?heavy calendar. Supporters frame PACE as a narrower, payments?only reform that might be easier to pass than full crypto overhauls, but delays or amendments could weaken its impact.

Conclusion

The proposed national license regime marks a clear shift toward integrating regulated crypto payment firms directly into US core payment infrastructure, under bank?like reserve and compliance rules. If Congress passes a version close to the current PACE design, the main effects would be on speed, cost, and reliability of dollar payments around crypto rather than on speculative trading itself. For now, the key signal to watch is whether committees schedule timely hearings and markup or let the bill stall behind other financial?sector priorities.

[^1]: See the description of eligibility and Registered Covered Provider in the PACE analysis on crypto payments Fed access. [^2]: For fee markups and reserve requirements, see the PACE Act coverage. [^3]: For Fed access, oversight, and industry support, see this overview of the national payments license proposal.