OCC Opens Door for Digital Asset Firms to Obtain National Bank Charters

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has signaled its openness to granting national bank charters to digital asset firms, a move that could grant them access to Federal Reserve payment rails and deposit insurance.

Acting Comptroller Jonathan V. Gould said entities engaged in legally permissible activities, including digital assets and novel technologies, should have a path to becoming national banks.

The OCC has received 40 de novo applications over the past 18 months, including applications for national trust banks, and has resolved many complete applications within 120 days.

A national bank charter would provide digital asset firms with access to direct payment systems, pre-emption of state licensing regimes, and a single federal supervisor instead of 50 state money-transmitter laws.