U.S. OCC States It Is Open to Digital Asset Banks and Has Received 40 New Applications
The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced that the U.S. is "open for business" for digital asset banks, providing a pathway for companies engaged in digital assets and new technologies to become national banks.
In the past 18 months, the OCC has received 40 new bank applications, reflecting a significant increase in interest from digital asset-related entities for federal charters.
Previously, the OCC conditionally approved national trust bank charters for several digital asset companies, including Circle, Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos. Circle subsequently received final approval to establish the First National Digital Currency Bank.
The OCC confirmed in a letter that national banks can engage in cryptocurrency custody, specific stablecoin activities, risk-free principal trading, and payment of blockchain network fees, while eliminating some prior non-objection requirements.
Related applications cover full-service national banks and trust banks, with some intending to combine deposit, lending, and virtual currency services, which must meet capital, risk management, and Federal Reserve system conditions before officially opening.
From a market mechanism perspective, this policy signal is regulatory-driven, lowering the barriers for digital asset companies to enter the federal banking system. Funding and charter applications are flowing towards compliant custody and stablecoin issuance entities, while traditional banks face new competitors. Highly compliant digital asset institutions benefit, and under event-driven circumstances, industry consolidation and capital allocation accelerate towards regulated channels.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
Since 2020, the OCC has gradually clarified through multiple letters that national banks can engage in crypto custody and stablecoin-related activities. During this period, policy fluctuations led to temporary tightening, but after 2025, there will be an acceleration in approving digital asset trust charters and streamlining processes, shifting from case-by-case pilots to systematic opening of the federal banking system.
In terms of capital pathways, digital asset companies can obtain federal regulatory endorsement and the possibility of deposit insurance by applying for national trust or full-service bank charters. Funding is shifting from state-level charters or non-bank models to the federal system, motivated by the desire to reduce financing costs, enhance institutional trust, and expand custody and payment services.
Similar cases can be seen in the 2010s when fintech companies sought bank charters to avoid fragmented state-level regulation, as well as Anchorage Digital's earlier acquisition of a trust charter. The U.S. is currently in a phase of embedding digital assets from the margins into the mainstream banking system.
The structural judgment indicates a regulatory change: federal regulators are actively opening charter pathways, with the mechanism being to incorporate digital asset activities into the traditional banking safety and soundness framework, thereby channeling innovation from the non-bank sector into the uniformly regulated national banking system.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
- Regulatory openness = signal light for charter application wave
- Federal endorsement reduces digital asset financing premiums
- New technologies entering the banking system rely on pathways rather than exceptions.