U.S. Banking Regulator Grants Conditional Approval for Crypto Trust Banks

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), a top U.S. banking regulator, granted preliminary approval for several major crypto firms to establish national trust banks.

The OCC conditionally approved new national trust bank charters for crypto giants Ripple and Circle, alongside similar conditional approvals for BitGo, Paxos, and Fidelity Digital Assets to convert their existing state trust bank charters into national charters.

Significance of national charters

The conditional national trust bank charters are a major victory for the industry. They will allow these crypto firms to:

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  Provide crypto custody, asset management, and payment settlement services across all states without the complexity of state-by-state licensing.

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  Legally manage and safeguard digital assets on behalf of institutional clients, a critical requirement for pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and traditional asset managers.

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  Settle payments faster using a regulated framework, fulfilling a core promise of blockchain technology within the formal financial system.

Regulatory friction

This move was met with pushback from traditional banking groups, which argued that granting these charters could allow crypto companies to operate under a “lighter regulatory touch,” potentially heightening systemic risk.

However, the OCC’s conditional approval process is specifically designed to ensure that these firms meet tailored, robust capital and risk management standards.

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