U.S. Regulator Pushes Back on Banks Fighting Crypto's Pursuit of Trust Charters

Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould affirmed that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) will not let complaints from traditional banks slow down crypto firms pursuing trust charters, warning that such hesitancy risks reversing innovation. Gould noted that the OCC is hearing daily from existing banks about their own innovative products, reinforcing confidence in the agency's ability to supervise new entrants fairly. He highlighted that the process for new bank applications, which had stalled, is now back up to 14 applicants, many tied to digital assets, asserting there is no justification for treating digital assets differently. The OCC, the sole federal chartering authority, recently granted a provisional charter to crypto bank Erebor. Gould also mentioned that the OCC and FDIC are preparing rules to remove "reputation risk" from supervision and is reviewing banks' practices of "debanking" crypto businesses.

(Source：CoinDesk)