For a couple of years, a little-known US regulator has been quietly handing crypto companies a shortcut into the banking system. Traditional banks have finally run out of patience.
On October 2, the Independent Community Bankers of America, a trade group representing thousands of small and mid-size US banks, sued the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in federal court in Washington, D.C. The claim: the OCC overstepped the authority Congress gave it under the National Bank Act when it started granting crypto firms so-called limited purpose national trust charters.
On paper, that's a banking license. In practice, it's a side door. Firms holding one get the federal "bank" label without needing FDIC deposit insurance, without Community Reinvestment Act lending obligations, without consolidated supervision, and without the capital and liquidity cushions ordinary banks must carry.
"Congress did not create the national trust charter as a side door into the banking system for crypto firms," ICBA president Rebeca Romero Rainey said. The group also argues the OCC brushed aside public comments submitted during the rulemaking process.
It's not the first clash between banks and crypto this year — Jamie Dimon's public feud with Coinbase over the CLARITY Act comes to mind. But this lawsuit cuts closer to the bone: if a judge sides with the ICBA, every charter already granted — and the whole pathway crypto firms use to plug into the US banking system — could be thrown into doubt. A ruling is months away, but both sides have a lot riding on it.
