A major U.S. banking regulatory group is now considering suing the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for what it perceives to be an approach to cryptocurrency firms that is too liberal that could threaten the U.S. banking system if not curbed.
According to the Guardian, the Banking Policy Institute—a group of major U.S. banks that represents financial firms such as J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup—is claiming that the current Trump administration is granting National Trust Charter licenses to far too many cryptocurrency, fintech, and payment companies.
The U.S. Trust charter allows companies to operate as banks, enabling them to manage money and provide account services. In the case of cryptocurrency firms, this means the ability to custody digital assets and fiat currencies.
As of now, the OCC is considering multiple applications for banking licenses that are coming from fintech, cryptocurrency, and payment companies, or banks that are creating digital asset subsidiaries.
State-level banking groups also pushback against the OCC
Apart from the pushback by the BPI, smaller-scale regulatory groups such as the Conference of State Bank Supervisors and the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) have also issued letters to the OCC, warning that regulatory licenses handed over to cryptocurrency firms could negatively impact consumer protection, core federal banking laws, and stability.
It is also saying that these firms don’t follow traditional banking safeguards, making them a huge risk for potential customers who want a safe place to put their money.
Here are some of the cryptocurrency firms and fintech companies that have applied for a National Trust Charter so far:
- Ripple (Conditional approval)
- Paxos (Conditional approval)
- Payoneer (pending)
- Crypto.com (Conditional approval)
- Stripe’s Bridge (Conditional approval)
- Circle Internet Group’s First National Digital Currency Bank (Conditional approval)
- Fidelity Digital Assets (Conditional approval)
- Bitgo Bank & Trust (Conditional approval )
- Wise (Pending)
The current U.S. Trump administration has been viewed as pro-crypto, with the following people in leadership roles:
- Paul Atkins (Head of the SEC)
- Johnathan Gould (Head of the OCC)
- Michael Selig (confirmed Head of the CFTC)
Donald Trump’s involvement in cryptocurrency stretches far and wide
There have been multiple instances of the Trump family profiting from cryptocurrency during Donald Trump’s second term.
The Trump family holds a huge stake in cryptocurrency through the ownership of World Liberty Financial, a firm that oversees the issuance of the WLF1 token and USD1 stablecoin.
At the start of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term, meme coins were issued based on Trump and Melania, from which retail investors later incurred a $4.3 billion loss. Both the meme coins were owned by companies directly linked to Donald Trump and Melania, and only a select number of wallets suspected of being insiders profited from the trading of these coins.