Following December 2025 charter approvals for crypto firms, the OCC has closed comments on proposed rules clarifying national trust bank activities, while the CFTC issued guidance allowing stablecoins as margin collateral. Banking groups continue criticizing the charters as regulatory arbitrage and 'Franken-charters,' urging safeguards.
Building on the OCC's December 2025 conditional approvals for national trust bank charters to subsidiaries of Ripple, Circle, Paxos, BitGo, and Fidelity—focused on digital asset custody—the agency recently closed the comment period on a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to clarify permissible activities under 12 CFR 5.20. This replaces 'fiduciary activities' with broader 'operations of a trust company and activities related thereto,' codifying practices for trust banks custoding nearly $2 trillion in assets without core banking functions.
Banking groups have intensified opposition. The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) argued trust charters must prioritize fiduciary roles, with President Brandon Milhorn calling proposed crypto charters 'Franken-charters' and denying OCC's broad authority. The American Bankers Association (ABA) sought to bar 'bank' in names of non-traditional entities to avoid confusion.
Joseph Cox, former Federal Reserve supervisor, highlighted how these charters let firms bypass Bank Holding Company Act restrictions faced by traditional banks like Wells Fargo, creating a 'level playing field' issue.
Complementing OCC efforts, the CFTC's February 2026 guidance—expanding December 2025 clarifications—permits futures commission merchants to use payment stablecoins from national trust banks as margin, integrating tokenized assets into derivatives. Cox noted banks' interest in custody for Bitcoin ETFs and yield-bearing tokenized funds, balancing innovation with risks like market stress contagion.
Anchorage Digital Bank, N.A. (chartered 2021), exemplifies services like safekeeping, staking, and governance.
