Overview
- The American Bankers Association’s Feb. 11 letter urges the OCC to pause or slow decisions on crypto-linked national trust bank charters and to provide greater transparency in the review process.
- The ABA argues the OCC should not condition approvals on the GENIUS Act, which it says could take years to implement across multiple agencies.
- Citing the collapses of FTX and Celsius, the group warns of insolvency and cybersecurity risks and asks the OCC to ensure its receivership tools can handle potential failures.
- The association also recommends prohibiting limited-purpose trust companies from using the word “bank” to prevent consumer confusion about regulatory status and protections.
- The pushback follows OCC actions since December—conditional approvals for Ripple, Circle, BitGo, Paxos and Fidelity, interpretive letters, and a January NPRM—and crypto trade groups including the Blockchain Association call the banking lobby’s stance protectionist as firms such as Coinbase, Nomura’s Laser Digital and World Liberty Financial seek charters.