TechFlow reports that on March 10, according to The Guardian, the Bank Policy Institute (BPI), which represents 40 major U.S. banks including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup, is considering suing the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) over its new licensing policy targeting cryptocurrency, payments, and fintech companies.
The OCC, led by Jonathan Gould—a former cryptocurrency executive appointed by Trump—has lowered the threshold for cryptocurrency and fintech firms to obtain national bank trust charters, enabling these firms to operate across all 50 U.S. states. However, banking institutions argue that such firms are not subject to the same stringent regulatory oversight and controls as traditional banks, potentially jeopardizing U.S. consumers and the financial system’s safety.
Prior to this, BPI had urged the OCC to reject license applications from companies including Circle, Ripple, and Wise, warning that permitting firms to opt into lighter regulation “could blur the statutory boundaries of banking, increase systemic risk, and undermine the credibility of the national bank charter.” Earlier reports indicated that World Liberty Financial—the Trump family’s cryptocurrency venture—also applied for this charter in January.
