The OCC’s Charter Greenlight Pulls Crypto Closer to US Banking

The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on Friday (Dec. 12) conditionally approved applications for new national bank trust charters to five applicants from the digital asset and blockchain finance space.

“New entrants into the federal banking sector are good for consumers, the banking industry and the economy,” said Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould in a statement.

The approvals include de novo charters for Circle’s First National Digital Currency Bank and Ripple National Trust Bank, as well as conversions from state trust company charters for BitGo Bank & Trust, National Association, Fidelity Digital Assets, National Association, and Paxos Trust Company, National Association.

A national bank charter can convey significant advantages including the preemption of state banking laws in certain areas, access to the Federal Reserve payments system, and the license of federal supervision. All of which can lower friction for scaling operations nationwide.

The five application approvals, which have long been sought after by digital asset companies, represent a departure from the OCC’s more traditional trust bank cadre which has historically been dominated by institutions focused on custodial and fiduciary services for conventional assets.

Taken as a whole, the five new approvals add momentum to a narrative that digital asset firms can operate in the regulated financial mainstream without starting from traditional banking roots.

The Friday announcement made no mention of Wise or Coinbase, two other firms that PYMNTS has reported also applied for charters. Their applications may still be pending.

See also: OCC Reframes Crypto as Standard Banking Activity

Five Firms, One Regulatory Signal

What sets this moment apart is not the issuance of new charters, given that the federal banking system already comprises more than 1,000 national banks and federal savings associations, but that the types of entities now gaining a foothold under federal supervision are coming from a space that the federal government has historically kept at arms’ length.

And while the approvals from the OCC are tied to distinct conditions that the five applicants must satisfy before commencing operations, the signal sent to markets is unmistakable: federal regulators are opening the door to crypto-connected banking under the same statutory framework that governs traditional trust banks.

For Circle and Ripple, which are two of the most high-profile names in blockchain and stablecoins, this moment is especially consequential. Circle, publicly traded as of mid-2025, is the issuer of USD Coin (USDC), one of the largest dollar-pegged stablecoins. Ripple, whose native token and RLUSD stablecoin have long been at the center of regulatory debate, is now aligning its settlement infrastructure with federal banking oversight.

The first crypto company to get a national trust…