Overview
- Ripple, Circle’s First National Digital Currency Bank, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos received conditional approval to establish or convert into national trust banks.
- These charters allow federally supervised custody, payment processing, and fiduciary services, but they do not permit taking deposits or making loans and are not FDIC insured.
- The OCC said each firm must satisfy capital, governance, compliance, and risk‑management requirements before beginning operations under the charters.
- Banking trade groups including the American Bankers Association and the Independent Community Bankers of America criticized the decision, warning of blurred definitions of a bank and potential regulatory arbitrage.
- A parallel move by the CFTC expanded cross‑margining for U.S. Treasuries to boost capital efficiency, while international signals include Itaú Unibanco advising up to 3% Bitcoin exposure and Venezuelan reliance on stablecoins for everyday payments.