OCC Confirms Legality of Custodial Services Provided by National Trust Banks

Jonathan Gould, Comptroller of the OCC, said during his speech at the Blockchain Association Policy Summit 2025 that the agency is reviewing several applications to establish national trust banks and intends to ensure fair competition between existing and new market participants, including companies offering digital asset services. According to him, custodial and related services have long been part of the permitted activities of trust banks, and digital assets shouldn’t be treated as an exception.

He reminded the audience that the OCC has had the authority to issue national trust charters since 1978 and currently oversees around 60 such institutions. In Q3 2025, national trust banks reported nearly $2 trillion in non-fiduciary custodial assets under management, accounting for about 25% of their combined total assets.

He noted that claims by opponents of new applications, suggesting that custodial services contradict OCC precedent, aren’t supported by facts. He said that restricting such operations would require revisiting long-established activities and would effectively disrupt work measured in the trillions of dollars.

Gould emphasized that the U.S. banking system evolved from the telegraph to blockchain, and regulators shouldn’t artificially constrain banks with outdated technologies. He pointed out that many states, including New York and South Dakota, already allow their trust companies to offer digital asset custody services.

He gave special attention to banks’ concerns about “unfair competition” and supervisory risks. According to him, the OCC has many years of experience supervising both traditional trust bank operations and the activities of national trust banks focused on cryptocurrencies, and is therefore prepared to oversee new institutions reliably and impartially.

Gould also announced plans to combat the practice of debanking. The OCC created a public mechanism for submitting complaints from customers and companies who believe they were unjustifiably denied banking services. The regulator removed the notion of “reputational risk” from its guidance documents and, together with the FDIC, proposed removing it from regulations, as it was often used as a formal pretext to refuse service to lawful businesses.

The OCC head also confirmed that the agency is reviewing the nine largest national banks for potential restrictions on providing services to clients from politically sensitive or innovative industries, including digital assets.

Commenting on the implementation of the GENIUS Act, which establishes a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins, the official noted that the OCC is prepared to develop a “measured and flexible” supervisory system. The regulator expects broad public feedback, as many issues will require detailed study and likely subsequent rule adjustments in line with technological progress.

In closing, Gould stressed that the OCC will oppose attempts to undermine diversity and competition within the banking system: “Innovation, competition, and fair access must prevail over regulatory stagnation.”

Several applications for national trust bank charters enabling federal-level crypto operations are currently under OCC review. Applicants include entities associated with Sony, Stripe, Coinbase, Ripple, Paxos, Circle, and several other companies.