Community Bankers Sue OCC Over Crypto Trust Charter Rule
The Independent Community Bankers of America asked a federal court to vacate the rule behind national trust charters granted to crypto firms.
The Independent Community Bankers of America sued the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Comptroller Jonathan Gould on Friday, asking a federal judge in Washington to throw out the rule the agency used to grant national trust charters to crypto firms, according to gizmodo.com.
The complaint counts 21 trust banks approved or conditionally approved under the Trump administration, at least 13 of them crypto companies. It also asks the court to vacate the conditional charter given to Protego Holdings in February.
The rule at issue rests on Interpretive Letter 1176, issued in the last days of the first Trump administration, which told the industry the OCC could charter a firm as a national bank if it engaged in the operations of a trust company. A final rule implementing that reading was published on March 2.
A run of crypto approvals
On December 12, the OCC conditionally approved national trust charters for Ripple National Trust Bank and First National Digital Currency Bank, and conversions for BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos. Coinbase said in April that it had received conditional approval for Coinbase National Trust Company, and in August the OCC conditionally approved World Liberty Trust Company, tied to Trump-affiliated World Liberty Financial.
Protego applied in May 2025; an earlier conditional approval it received in 2021 expired in 2023.
Quick answers
Who is suing the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency?
The Independent Community Bankers of America sued the OCC and Comptroller Jonathan Gould on Friday in federal court in Washington.
What does the lawsuit ask the court to do?
It asks the judge to throw out the rule the agency used to grant national trust charters to crypto firms and to vacate Protego Holdings' February conditional charter.
How many trust banks does the complaint count?
The complaint counts 21 trust banks approved or conditionally approved under the Trump administration, at least 13 of them crypto companies.