Conditional Charters Pull Crypto Closer to Core of US Banking

Crypto just got chartered.

The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on Friday (Dec. 12) conditionally approved applications for new national bank trust charters to five applicants from the digital asset and blockchain finance space.

“New entrants into the federal banking sector are good for consumers, the banking industry and the economy,” said Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould in a statement.

The approvals include de novo charters for Circle’s First National Digital Currency Bank and Ripple National Trust Bank, as well as conversions from state trust company charters for BitGo Bank & Trust, National Association, Fidelity Digital Assets, National Association, and Paxos Trust Company, National Association.

A national bank charter can convey significant advantages including the preemption of state banking laws in certain areas, access to the Federal Reserve payments system, and the license of federal supervision. All of which can lower friction for scaling operations nationwide.

The five application approvals, which have long been sought after by digital asset companies, represent a departure from the OCC’s more traditional trust bank cadre which has historically been dominated by institutions focused on custodial and fiduciary services for conventional assets.

Taken as a whole, the five new approvals add momentum to a narrative that digital asset firms can operate in the regulated financial mainstream without starting from traditional banking roots.

The Friday announcement made no mention of Wise or Coinbase, two other firms that PYMNTS has reported also applied for charters. Their applications may still be pending.

See also: OCC Reframes Crypto as Standard Banking Activity

Five Firms, One Regulatory Signal

What sets this moment apart is not the issuance of new charters, given that the federal banking system already comprises more than 1,000 national banks and federal savings associations, but that the types of entities now gaining a foothold under federal supervision are coming from a space that the federal government has historically kept at arms’ length.

And while the approvals from the OCC are tied to distinct conditions that the five applicants must satisfy before commencing operations, the signal sent to markets is unmistakable: federal regulators are opening the door to crypto-connected banking under the same statutory framework that governs traditional trust banks.

For Circle and Ripple, which are two of the most high-profile names in blockchain and stablecoins, this moment is especially consequential. Circle, publicly traded as of mid-2025, is the issuer of USD Coin (USDC), one of the largest dollar-pegged stablecoins. Ripple, whose native token and RLUSD stablecoin have long been at the center of regulatory debate, is now aligning its settlement infrastructure with federal banking oversight.

The first crypto company to get a national trust charter from the OCC was Anchorage Digital Bank, in 2021.

For skeptics, the approvals may raise questions about risk, enforcement parity with traditional banks, and the adequate safeguarding of depositors and investors.

The OCC’s decision comes a day after the agency released its supervisory review on Wednesday (Dec. 10) of debanking activities at the nine largest national banks it supervises: JPMorgan Chase Bank, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo Bank, U.S. Bank, Capital One, PNC Bank, TD Bank, and BMO Bank.

Read more: Building the Blockchain Blueprint: How Leading FIs Are Modernizing Money, Markets and Trust

How the Banking Landscape is Reacting

While digital asset advocates cheer the OCC’s actions as a milestone for innovation, traditional banking industry groups have expressed reservations.

“Today’s decision by the OCC to grant conditionally five national trust charters leaves substantial unanswered questions. Chiefly, whether the requirements the OCC has outlined for the applicants are appropriately tailored to the activities and risks in which the trust will engage. We hope the OCC will share more details about these applications so the public can better understand the rationale behind today’s decision,” wrote The Bank Policy Institute (BPI) in a Friday statement.

Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple CEO, tweeted on X that, “To the banking lobbyists – your anti-competitive tactics are transparent. You’ve complained that crypto isn’t playing by the same rules, but here’s the crypto industry – directly under the OCC’s supervision and standards – prioritizing compliance, trust and innovation to the benefit of consumers. What are you so afraid of?”

Still, trust banks, particularly those converting from state charters, are subject to important constraints. National trust banks typically focus on custodial services and fiduciary activities, rather than broad deposit-taking and commercial lending activities associated with full-service banks.

The ultimate success of these charters may hinge on how regulators monitor risk, especially liquidity, operational resilience, and counterparty exposure in digital markets, and how markets adapt to the new regulatory topology.