The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has opened the door to five digital asset firms to join the US federal banking system by granting conditional approval for national trust bank charters, according to an announcement.
OCC Grants Five Crypto Firms Conditional US Trust Banking Status
15 December 2025 - 08:56 CET
By Sandmark staff
The addition of Fidelity Digital Assets, Circle, Ripple, Paxos, and BitGo to the banking club lends further legitimacy to the crypto sector as it transitions from fringe status to full integration with traditional financial systems.
The latest additions join 60 other national trust banks supervised by the OCC, which sits within the Treasury Department and sets rules for nationally chartered banks on how they operate, manage risk and use new financial technologies.
Financial innovation
The move comes as the US vies for a leading role in digital assets, reversing the cautious policies that labelled crypto as risky and rife with fraud.
The newly installed trust banks "provide access to new products, services and sources of credit to consumers," said Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould, who said the regulator would pursue “both traditional and innovative approaches to financial services” for the banking system.
BitGo said that the approval allows BitGo Bank & Trust to offer custody and safekeeping of digital assets, as well as "certain non-deposit financial assets" under federal fiduciary and non-fiduciary authorities. It will also permit nationwide delivery of certain digital asset-related services.
Banking warning shot
The OCC’s latest ruling still prevents newly minted members from engaging in traditional banking activities, as crypto firms are generally uninsured and restricted to fiduciary and related activities. That means they are not permitted to conduct deposit-taking and lending activities.
Nonetheless, it is a shot across the bow to the traditional banking sector, which has raised alarms over the encroachment of digital products, such as yield-bearing stablecoins, that could lure away customers.
“While anti-innovation bank lobbyists may claim otherwise, we are ensuring RLUSD is the most transparent and responsibly managed stablecoin in the market today,” said Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse.
For Ripple, the OCC nod means that its stablecoin business will be under two layers of regulation: the New York Department of Financial Services and the OCC. The greenlight “represents a massive step forward”, the company said in a press release.
Circle also praised the OCC’s announcement, saying it would boost the clarity and confidence to build on Circle’s platform as stablecoins and blockchain technology move rapidly into the mainstream.
Holding crypto
The OCC last week confirmed that national banks may hold limited amounts of crypto on their balance sheets when needed to execute otherwise permissible activities, such as permitting banks to hold ETH to pay network fees on blockchain rails.
The ruling reduces tokenized settlement friction for banks, enabling them to directly handle fee payments and avoid relying on third-party providers to access small amounts of tokens required for operational use.
