ICBA Sues OCC Over Crypto Trust Bank Charters
The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) has sued the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) over its authority to grant national trust bank charters to crypto companies. The lawsuit, filed on October 2 in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, challenges the OCC's expansion of the national trust bank charter beyond its original intent.
The ICBA argues that the OCC has allowed crypto firms to perform substantial non-fiduciary activities without being subject to the same framework as insured banks. The association claims that this creates a 'side door' into banking for crypto companies, allowing them to gain the credibility of a federal bank charter without taking on the obligations of traditional banks.
The lawsuit specifically targets the OCC's March 2, 2026 final rule and Interpretive Letter 1176, which the ICBA says improperly broadened the activities that can qualify for a national trust bank charter. The ICBA is seeking to vacate Protego Holdings Corp.'s conditional charter approval and is asking the court to find the OCC's actions unlawful.
The OCC has issued approvals or conditional approvals to several digital asset-focused institutions, including Coinbase, Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity, Payward, and zerohash. The regulator's own public database lists several digital asset-related applications, including zerohash National Trust Bank, Payward National Trust Company, EDX Trust, PAYO Digital Bank, and Lorum National Trust Bank.