Key Highlights
- OCC chief Jonathan Gould emphasizes that crypto firms should receive the same treatment as traditional banks when applying for national trust charters.
- The regulator has received 14 new bank applications this year, including several from digital asset and fintech companies.
- Major crypto players like Coinbase, Ripple, and Circle are seeking federal oversight to expand services under clear regulatory frameworks.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has pushed back against criticism that crypto companies should face tougher scrutiny when applying for federal bank charters.
Jonathan Gould, Comptroller of the Currency, told industry leaders at the Blockchain Association Policy Summit on December 8 that digital asset firms seeking national trust bank charters deserve the same treatment as traditional financial institutions.
“There is simply no justification for considering digital assets differently,” Gould said arguing that custody and safekeeping services — central to many crypto business models — have been managed electronically by banks “for decades.”
Banking system must evolve with technology
The OCC, which oversees national banks and federal trust institutions, has historically expressed concerns about crypto-related risks. Today, only two crypto-native firms — Anchorage Digital and Erebor — hold national trust bank charters.
However, Gould emphasized that the broader banking sector is already rapidly modernizing. He said the financial system has “the capacity to evolve from the telegraph to the blockchain,” warning that restricting new technologies would “undermine the dynamic and evolving nature of the federal banking system.”
A surge in new bank applications
Gould revealed that the agency has received 14 applications to form new banks so far this year — nearly matching the number submitted over the previous four years combined. Several of those applicants are digital asset firms or fintech innovators.
“Chartering helps ensure that the banking system continues to keep pace with the evolution of finance and supports our modern economy,” he said. “That is why entities that engage in activities involving digital assets and other novel technologies should have a pathway to become federally supervised banks.”
Traditional banks push back
Financial industry groups, including the American Bankers Association, have urged caution, warning that crypto companies may not meet established standards for fiduciary trust operations. Some have questioned whether the OCC has the resources and expertise to supervise such firms properly.
Gould rejected that view, saying he hears “on a near daily basis” from existing banks about their own blockchain-linked projects. He added that the regulator already has years of supervisory experience with Anchorage, the first crypto-native national trust bank.
“All of this reinforces my confidence in the OCC’s ability to effectively supervise new entrants as well as new activities of existing banks in a fair and even-handed manner,” he said.
Big crypto players seek federal oversight
Several major digital asset companies — including Coinbase, Circle, Ripple, and Paxos — have recently submitted applications for national trust charters.
Such licenses would allow them to expand services under clear regulatory oversight while offering traditional banking-style protections. Coinbase has said it does not plan to become a full-service retail bank, but a federal charter could streamline payments and reduce reliance on partner banks.
Ripple has signaled plans to bring its stablecoin, RLUSD, under federal banking standards if its charter is approved. Circle’s application would enable custody services and bring its dollar-linked operations further under U.S. regulation.
Reviving U.S. banking competition
Gould also stressed the importance of supporting new bank formation in general, particularly after a long stretch following the 2008 financial crisis which few new banks were approved.
He highlighted the OCC’s history of chartering national trust banks, which today are responsible for nearly $2 trillion in assets under custody.
“A robust pipeline of de novo banks,” he argued, is necessary to keep the U.S. banking system dynamic and competitive.
Also Read: Argentina Eyes Rules to Bring Crypto Into Traditional Banks
