Top U.S. Banks Consider Suing U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Over Crypto-Friendly Licensing Policy
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Top U.S. Banks Consider Suing U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Over Crypto-Friendly Licensing Policy
The crux of the dispute is that, under the Trump administration, the OCC significantly relaxed federal licensing rules, making it easier for cryptocurrency, payment, and fintech companies to obtain a national bank trust charter—thereby enabling them to operate across all 50 U.S. states. The BPI contends that this move allows such companies to enter the financial system without being subject to regulatory oversight as stringent as that applied to traditional banks, thereby exacerbating systemic risk, undermining consumer protection, and blurring the legal definition of “bank.”
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsTechFlow News, March 9: According to an exclusive report by The Guardian, the Bank Policy Institute (BPI), a lobbying group representing 40 major U.S. banks—including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup—is evaluating whether to file a lawsuit against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
The dispute centers on the OCC’s significant relaxation of federal chartering rules under the Trump administration, which makes it easier for cryptocurrency, payment, and fintech companies to obtain national bank trust charters—thereby granting them the authority to operate across all 50 U.S. states. BPI contends that this move allows such firms to enter the financial system without being subject to regulatory standards as stringent as those applied to traditional banks, thereby increasing systemic risk, undermining consumer protection, and blurring the legal definition of “bank.”
BPI has previously issued multiple warnings to the OCC and formally requested that it deny charter applications from Circle, Ripple, and Wise—requests that were not heeded. Notably, World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency venture backed by the Trump family, submitted its own trust charter application in January this year.
BPI has not yet reached a final decision, and the OCC has declined to comment.
