The American Community Bankers Association sues the OCC: demanding to block cryptocurrency companies from entering the banking system through trust licenses

The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) filed a lawsuit against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in the federal district court of Washington, D.C. on Friday, questioning its authority to grant national trust bank charters to cryptocurrency companies and requesting the court to revoke the final rule and interpretive letter No. 1176 issued on March 2, 2026.

ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey stated that the relevant charters give cryptocurrency companies the credibility of obtaining federal bank charters without having to comply with federal deposit insurance, capital and liquidity standards, and requirements such as the Community Reinvestment Act. ICBA also seeks to revoke the conditional charter of Protego Holdings, citing deficiencies in its governance and risk control. The lawsuit involves digital asset companies such as Circle, Ripple, Paxos, Fidelity, BitGo, Kraken's parent company Payward, Block, and World Liberty Financial that have applied for or received OCC charters. Senator Elizabeth Warren separately accused the relevant approvals of being illegal, and the industry has raised objections; the OCC plans to complete the stablecoin rules under the GENIUS Act by November.