ABA urges OCC to pause crypto trust charters under GENIUS
The American Bankers Association (ABA) has asked the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to slow approvals of national trust bank charters for crypto and stablecoin firms until regulations under the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act are finalized.
In a comment letter submitted Wednesday on the OCC’s notice of proposed rulemaking for national bank chartering, the ABA said current and prospective applicants involved in stablecoin and broader digital asset activities face unsettled oversight from multiple federal and state authorities. The association urged the OCC not to advance applications where an institution’s full regulatory obligations, including those expected under forthcoming GENIUS Act rulemakings, are not yet clearly defined.
The ABA cautioned that uninsured national trust institutions focused on digital assets present unresolved safety and soundness, operational, and resolution risks, citing concerns around segregation of customer assets, conflicts of interest, and cybersecurity.
It also warned that some firms could use national trust charters to avoid registration and oversight by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) when engaging in activities that would otherwise fall under securities or derivatives regulation.
The trade group urged the OCC to be patient, avoid applying standard timing expectations to these applications, and ensure that each applicant’s regulatory responsibilities are fully understood before moving forward. The ABA also called for greater transparency into how the OCC sets capital, operational, and resilience requirements in conditional approvals for crypto-related charters.
Additionally, the association pressed the OCC to strengthen naming standards so that limited‑purpose trust entities not engaged in the business of banking are prohibited from using the term “bank” in their names, in order to reduce the risk of consumer confusion about the status and safety of obligations at uninsured institutions.
Context following recent crypto trust approvals
The ABA’s recommendations follow the OCC’s conditional national trust bank approvals for five crypto firms less than two months ago: Bitgo Bank & Trust, Fidelity Digital Assets, Ripple National Trust Bank, First National Digital Currency Bank, and Paxos Trust Company. On Dec. 12, 2025, the OCC authorized a pathway for these firms to hold and manage customer digital assets under a federal charter while remaining outside traditional deposit-taking and lending activities.
Separately, the ABA is urging Congress, through measures such as the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, to limit stablecoin rewards programs. The group argues that yield-bearing stablecoins and affiliated “rewards” features could operate as bank-like products without being subject to the full banking regulatory framework.
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