OCC Grants Conditional Trust Charters to Ripple, Circle, Paxos, BitGo and Fidelity; Banks Push Back

The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) approved conditional national trust bank charters for five crypto firms — Ripple, Circle, Paxos, BitGo and Fidelity — marking a major regulatory step toward integrating crypto firms into the federal banking framework. Approvals vary in scope (full or limited-purpose trust charters and conditional authorizations) and include conditions addressing anti-money-laundering (AML) controls, capital and liquidity standards, and governance. The decisions follow extended regulatory engagement and make federal oversight and litigation pathways clearer than earlier fintech charters. Banking trade groups including the Independent Community Bankers of America and the American Bankers Association criticized the move, arguing it stretches trust-charter precedent and could let stablecoin operators access federal systems without equivalent capital or deposit-insurance obligations. The Bank Policy Institute demanded transparency around the OCC’s process. OCC Comptroller Jonathan Gould defended the approvals as pro-competitive and beneficial to consumers. Analysts expect traditional banks to pursue regulatory friction or legal challenges; provisions in the GENIUS Act complicate such efforts by allowing national banks without deposit insurance. Market context: the total crypto market cap recently dipped below $3 trillion. For traders: watch institutional custody flows, stablecoin issuance and supply dynamics, and custody-fee or liquidity shifts that could influence short-term price action for affected tokens and broader market liquidity.