Key Highlights
- The OCC conditionally approved national trust bank charters for five digital asset firms, including Ripple and Fidelity.
- The decision integrates major crypto players into the formal U.S. federal banking system.
- The decision validates the digital asset industry and fosters competition in financial services.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced today that it has granted conditional approval to five digital asset companies, including Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos, to operate as national trust banks.
According to the announcement, the firms received charters to either establish new, de novo national trust banks, in the case of Ripple National Trust Bank and First National Digital Currency Bank, or to convert from state-chartered trust companies, as with BitGo Bank & Trust, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos Trust Company.
This decision creates a regulated pathway for the cryptocurrency sector to integrate into the U.S. banking system, provided the firms meet all the pre-opening requirements. The move brings the famous cryptocurrency institutions formally into the federal banking system, thus providing an equal, competitive, and changing financial landscape following the same stringent review standards applied to all charter applications.
OCC’s oversight of national trust banks
The conditional approvals mean the five will eventually join the roughly 60 other national trust banks already under the OCC’s supervision, once all pre-opening conditions are satisfied. The decision underscores the OCC’s commitment to making sure the federal banking system remains dynamic and supportive of modern finance.
“New entrants into the federal banking sector are good for consumers, the banking industry and the economy. They provide access to new products, services and sources of credit to consumers, and ensure a dynamic, competitive and diverse banking system,” said Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould. “The OCC will continue to provide a path for both traditional and innovative approaches to financial services to ensure the federal banking system keeps pace with the evolution of finance and supports a modern economy.”
Prior regulatory guidance
National trust banks have a main business of fiduciary activities, such as custody and related services, which gel rather well with the core offerings of digital asset firms. This conditional approval of the charters is the result of the continued effort by OCC to bring regulatory clarity and a federal framework to the digital asset space. Earlier in the year, the agency took steps to accommodate the industry’s activities.
In November, the OCC confirmed national banks could hold crypto assets as principal for the express purpose of paying operational network fees, often called “gas fees.”
Riskless transactions and equal treatment
In December 2025, the OCC confirmed the permissibility of national banks engaging in “riskless principal transactions” with crypto assets on behalf of their customers, further opening up access.
Comptroller Gould has long favored treating innovative financial firms equally and said in a speech last December that crypto firms should be treated no differently than their traditional counterparts when it comes to considering their applications for bank charters.
Well before the widespread approval this week, the OCC’s active approach to crypto banking had already begun to see results, as firms like Erebor received conditional OCC charters in October, which provided an early signal of the agency’s long-term regulatory intent. These earlier steps set the stage for this week’s wide-ranging approval.
The integration into the national trust bank system will likely have major implications for the U.S. financial sector. In return, the federal oversight for those newly chartered banks replaces a patchwork of state licensing, allowing them to operate their services nationwide under one primary federal regulator.
With this clear regulatory path, the OCC tries to make the U.S. a leader in institutional adoption and regulation of digital assets. By welcoming firms such as Ripple and Fidelity into the federally supervised system, the OCC is actively encouraging competition and innovation.
Also Read: OCC Exposes 9 Major U.S. Banks Engaged in Controversial Debanking
