OCC Opens National Bank Path for Crypto Firms, Sparking Bank Lobby Pushback

TL;DR:

• The OCC says crypto companies should have a path to becoming national banks, formalizing a reversal underway since early 2025

• Five firms got conditional approval in one day last December; Kraken, Revolut and World Liberty Trust Company are still waiting

• Together with the FDIC's streamlined review, this creates a track for crypto firms to edge closer to bank services

• The Bank Policy Institute is considering a lawsuit, claiming the OCC is exceeding the powers the law gives it

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency or OCC, which is the federal regulator chartering national banks, said this week that crypto companies should have a clearer way of becoming a national bank. 

Jonathan Gould, the head of the OCC, announced in a statement:

Entities that engage in legally permissible activities, including those involving digital assets and other novel technologies, should have a path to becoming a national bank. America anfd the OCC are once again open for business.

The Practice Becomes Policy

This is a formalization of a reversal from the previous administration. It has been underway for some time. 

Back in President Trump's first term, the path to a national bank charter for crypto firms was opened. Anchorage Digital became the first and only federally chartered crypto trust bank. However, the Biden era OCC shut this path down.

While they didn’t outright ban or outlaw it, an “Interpretive Letter” required supervisory sign-off before any bank crypto activity. This effectively killed the path for crypto firms.

Then, early 2025, the second-term Trump OCC rescinded the Interpretive Letter. As crypto companies again saw a chance to get federally chartered, applications started rolling in. 

It would take until December before OCC conditional approvals would start to come, but when they did, the floodgates opened. Five firms got approval in one day.  Then, four more in 2026. And there’s a waiting list, Kraken, Revolut, World Liberty Trust and a few more are waiting for conditional approval.

Up until now, everything has been case-by-case. Individual approvals based on the comptroller’s and the OCC’s interpretation of the current rules. An interpretation the next comptroller could change. That’s what’s now changing. The practice is being formalized as agency doctrine.

Lawsuits, Objections, and One Denial

Together with the FDIC statement on Monday, which announced a streamlined review of deposit insurance applications, this creates a track for crypto firms to edge closer to offering the protections and services to crypto clients that bank clients already enjoy.

Banks, however, are not happy about this. The Bank Policy Institute, the major banks’ lobby in the US, is considering a lawsuit against the OCC over the charters. Their claim is that the agency is exceeding the powers the law gives them. 

The American Bankers Association has urged the OCC to slow down and Independent Bankers of America urged the rejection of Coinbase’s application.

House Democrats are worried for different reasons. Their objections are with regard to national security as Trump’s World Liberty Trust is one of the applicants.

And, while the OCC’s interpretation is now more allowing, approvals are not automatic. Wise had an application refused on July 21st. It remains to be seen how Kraken and World Liberty Trust fare in their applications.