Banking trade group sues to block OCC national trust charters that allow crypto firms to access banking system with fewer regulatory safeguards.
Regulation & Gov ·
The Independent Community Bankers of America has sued the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in federal court, challenging the agency's authority to grant national trust bank charters to cryptocurrency firms. The complaint, filed under the Administrative Procedure Act, seeks to void a March 2026 rule and the agency's Interpretive Letter No. 1176, and to vacate the conditional charter granted to Protego Holdings. ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey argued that the practice gives crypto companies access to federal banking credibility without obligations like FDIC insurance, capital standards, and Community Reinvestment Act requirements.
The trade group frames the national trust charter as a regulatory bypass, warning that digital assets held at such entities lack the federal protections customers expect from traditional chartered banks while preempting state consumer-protection laws. ICBA contends the OCC has exceeded its congressional authority by permitting firms to conduct substantial non-fiduciary activities under trust charters with lighter oversight than insured depository institutions receive. The lawsuit names several applicants including Circle, Ripple, Kraken's parent, and the Trump-linked World Liberty Financial as part of a wave of digital-asset companies pursuing OCC charters.
The dispute reflects escalating tension over crypto's integration into the federal banking system. The OCC is simultaneously working to finalize stablecoin rules under the GENIUS Act by November, adding another regulatory front. The outcome of this Administrative Procedure Act challenge remains uncertain, though a senator has separately disputed the legitimacy of the OCC's approval authority.