US Regulator Expands National Bank Charters to Crypto Firms

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has completed its first full-service national bank approval in five years, part of a broader push to expand national bank charters. The agency says this move extends directly to crypto firms, allowing those engaged in legally permissible activities, including digital assets and other novel technologies, to become a national bank.

According to the OCC, new entrants to the banking system drive competition and innovation and are crucial to a healthy financial system. This momentum is tied to the FDIC's newly streamlined deposit insurance review process and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's backing of what it calls a de novo chartering revival.

The agency has faced challenges to its fintech charter strategy before, including opposition from community banks and lawmakers over the separation of banking and commerce. Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote to the OCC in May, arguing that trust charters allow firms to evade safeguards and obligations associated with being a bank.