According to Bloomberg Business, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted preliminary conditional approval for national trust bank charters to five cryptocurrency firms on Friday. The companies receiving this coveted nod are Circle Internet Group Inc., Ripple, BitGo Inc., Fidelity’s digital assets arm, and Paxos. This action represents a concrete step in the White House’s evolving posture toward the crypto sector. The approval allows these firms to perform specific banking functions under a federal framework. Notably, Anchorage Digital Bank was the first crypto company to secure such a national trust charter back in January 2021.
What This Actually Means
So, a “national trust charter.” Sounds bureaucratic, right? But here’s the thing: it’s a huge deal. Basically, it lets these companies operate as regulated fiduciaries nationwide, holding digital assets on behalf of clients. They’re not becoming full-blown commercial banks that take deposits and make loans in the traditional sense. Instead, they’re getting a crucial stamp of legitimacy from a top-tier federal banking regulator. This is the OCC saying, “We see you, we’re going to supervise you, and you now have a clear rulebook to follow.” For institutions like Fidelity or corporate clients wanting to dabble in crypto, this provides a trusted, regulated pathway they’ve been desperately waiting for.
The Bigger Trajectory
Look, this doesn’t mean the regulatory battle is over. Far from it. The SEC is still swinging its enforcement hammer at players like Ripple and Coinbase over what constitutes a security. But this OCC move is a powerful counter-signal. It shows that parts of the US government are actively working to integrate crypto into the existing financial system, not just sue it into oblivion. It creates a parallel track of legitimacy alongside the SEC’s crackdown. I think we’re seeing the early outlines of a bifurcated future: some crypto assets treated as securities under the SEC, and the infrastructure around holding and transacting them supervised by banking regulators like the OCC. The firms that just got approval are betting big on that infrastructure future.
Why Now and What’s Next?
Why is this happening now? Politics and pragmatism. The Biden administration has been trying to thread a needle—curbing consumer risks while not stifling innovation and letting other jurisdictions like the EU or UK take the lead. This is a pragmatic “on-ramp” strategy. The immediate impact? It gives these five companies a massive competitive moat. They can now offer services that un-chartered rivals can’t, with a level of regulatory certainty that’s pure gold in this industry. The next step is the “conditional” part. They have to meet certain operational milestones set by the OCC to get the full charter. But make no mistake, this is a watershed. The fringe is being invited, cautiously, into the establishment’s waiting room.
