First announced late last year, the Office of Financial Technology builds on and incorporates the Office of Innovation, which the OCC established in 2016 to coordinate agency efforts to support "responsible financial innovation".

In his role as Deputy Comptroller and Chief Financial Technology Officer, Bhardwaj will lead the team responsible for analysis, evaluation, and discussion of relevant trends in fintech, emerging and potential risks, and the potential implications for OCC supervision.

The Office is designed to boost the OCC’s expertise on matters regarding digital assets, fintech partnerships, and other changing technologies and business models within and that affect OCC-supervised banks.

Georgia Quinn, general counsel at Anchorage Digital says: "The crypto industry should welcome the OCC’s new office as a clear sign the federal government is serious about bringing crypto and emerging areas of financial technology within the regulatory perimeter."