Key Takeaways:
Eleven companies including Circle, Ripple, Morgan Stanley, and Crypto dot com filed for or received OCC national trust bank charters between December 2025 and March 2026.
A new OCC rule taking effect April 1 explicitly authorizes national trust banks to conduct crypto custody, removing remaining legal ambiguity.
The Bank Policy Institute, whose members include JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, is considering suing the OCC to block the charter wave.
From December 2025 through March 5, 2026, eleven companies filed for or received conditional approvals for OCC national trust bank charters. Circle, Ripple, BitGo, Paxos, and Fidelity Digital Assets received conditional approvals in December. Bridge (Stripe's stablecoin subsidiary), Protego, and Crypto dot com followed in early 2026. Morgan Stanley filed on February 18. Zerohash filed on March 5.
That is more charter applications than the OCC received annually, on average, between 2011 and 2024. The pace is not accidental. A regulatory rule change published in the Federal Register on March 2 takes effect April 1, explicitly clarifying that national trust banks can conduct activities beyond traditional fiduciary services, including crypto custody.
Banks Push Back on Two Fronts
Traditional banks are fighting the charter wave through both legislative and legal channels. On March 5, the American Bankers Association rejected a White House compromise on the CLARITY Act, the crypto market structure bill. The dispute centers on whether stablecoin issuers can offer yield on dollar tokens, which banks argue competes with deposits without the same regulatory burden.
On the legal front, the Bank Policy Institute, whose board includes CEOs of JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America, is considering suing the OCC over its charter approvals. The Conference of State Banking Supervisors warned the OCC is creating a "Franken-charter" from regulatory components not designed to work together.
The industry is not waiting for Congress. With the CLARITY Act stalled and prediction markets putting passage odds at 18%, the OCC charter has become the primary vehicle for federal legitimacy. Every company filing sees the same thing: the legislative route is blocked, the regulatory route is open, and the window may not last.
People Also Ask
Q: What is an OCC national trust bank charter? A: It allows companies to provide custody, settlement, and fiduciary services nationwide under federal oversight, without taking deposits or making loans.
Q: Which crypto companies have received OCC charter approval? A: Circle, Ripple, BitGo, Paxos, Fidelity Digital Assets, Bridge, Protego, and Crypto dot com have received conditional approvals as of March 2026.
Q: Why are traditional banks opposing OCC crypto charters? A: Banks argue crypto firms are gaining federal legitimacy without meeting the same regulatory requirements, and stablecoin products could compete directly with bank deposits.
Q: What changes on April 1 for OCC charters? A: A rule change removes ambiguity about national trust bank activities, explicitly authorizing crypto custody and operations beyond traditional fiduciary services.
Sources: Invezz | PYMNTS | Prior WYDE coverage: Coinbase Partners with Yahoo Finance