U.S. community bank organization sues OCC, seeking to block crypto firms from entering the banking system through trust charters

Odaily News: The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) filed a lawsuit on Friday against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, challenging its authority to grant national trust bank charters to crypto firms and asking the court to vacate the final rule dated March 2, 2026, and Interpretive Letter No. 1176.

ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said the charters give crypto firms the credibility of a federal bank charter without requiring compliance with federal deposit insurance, capital and liquidity standards, and the Community Reinvestment Act. The ICBA also seeks to revoke Protego Holdings' conditional charter, citing deficiencies in its governance and risk controls.

The lawsuit involves digital asset firms that have applied for or obtained OCC charters, including Circle, Ripple, Paxos, Fidelity, BitGo, Kraken parent company Payward, Block, and World Liberty Financial. Senator Elizabeth Warren separately accused the approvals of being unlawful, drawing pushback from the industry; the OCC plans to complete stablecoin rules under the GENIUS Act by November. (Decrypt)