Jonathan Gould, US Comptroller of the Currency, stated this Monday that his office will not stop issuing trust charters to digital asset companies. During the Blockchain Association summit held in Washington, the official forcefully rejected resistance from traditional banks. He assured that blocking new entrants due to complaints from the established sector would put necessary financial innovation at serious risk.
Gould revealed concrete data demonstrating a trend shift in the sector, indicating that the process for new banks has revived significantly. After a period of almost total stagnation, interest has resurged strongly in the last fiscal year. Up to 14 companies have applied for bank charters in the past twelve months, many of them directly linked to financial technology services and digital assets. This resurgence contrasts with the previous slowness observed in granting federal permits for this type of institution.
Recently, crypto bank Erebor obtained a historic provisional approval, marking a milestone under the banking regulator’s new administration. It became the first entity to achieve this under Gould’s direct supervision, thus joining Anchorage Digital, which held this exclusive status for years. This fact underscores the agency’s willingness to move beyond previous doubts. The OCC seeks to normalize the presence of regulated crypto actors within the national banking system formally.
Why is it crucial to evolve from the telegraph to blockchain technology?
The official highlighted that the OCC receives daily news from existing national banks about their own initiatives for innovative products and modern services. This reinforces his confidence in the agency’s ability to supervise new entrants in a fair and equitable manner. Gould emphasized that there is no valid justification for treating digital assets differently from other financial services in the economy. The regulator argued that limiting national trust banks to technologies of the past would be a grave strategic error that would reverse achieved progress.
According to his expert view, the financial system must inevitably transition from archaic tools like the telegraph toward the modern efficiency of the blockchain. On the other hand, the current administration has rapidly reversed the risk aversion that characterized previous periods regarding crypto banking. Gould announced that the OCC and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. are preparing new joint regulations to address these specific regulatory challenges. These rules seek to eliminate “reputation risk” from their current supervisory regulations.
This concept of reputational risk has often been used as a convenient excuse to justify the unfair exclusion of companies. Many digital asset firms have been pushed out of the traditional banking system under this pretext, stalling their growth and operational legitimacy. The agency’s new direction intends to dismantle these subjective barriers. It seeks to establish objective criteria allowing fair competition based on financial soundness and real regulatory compliance.
Will the practice of closing bank accounts for crypto companies end?
Likewise, the Comptroller issued a clear warning about “debanking” practices or account closures that severely affect the crypto sector. His agency is actively reviewing how banks cut services to crypto executives and businesses without solid grounds or clear justification. This firm stance suggests a much more inclusive and fair regulatory environment, where traditional institutions will no longer be able to use political influence to exclude competitors. Nor will they be able to use fear of competition to stop the integration of new digital actors into the national system.
The future landscape looks promising for the definitive integration of digital assets into regulated US banking. Effective supervision of these new participants promises to modernize the general banking landscape, making it more efficient and accessible. This will ensure that competition and technology directly benefit end consumers. With these measures, a steady flow of new trust charters is expected to strengthen the financial ecosystem in the coming years.
