ICBA sues the OCC to void national trust bank charters for crypto firms

The Independent Community Bankers of America has sued the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. The complaint, filed on 2 October, argues that the OCC exceeded the authority Congress gave it under the National Bank Act by chartering national trust banks that neither take deposits nor act as fiduciaries, and that conduct substantial crypto activities.

The suit targets three OCC actions: the final rule of 2 March 2026 on national trust bank charters, Interpretive Letter 1176 from January 2021, and the conditional approval granted to Protego in February 2026. ICBA asks the court to strike them down.

According to the complaint, the OCC has approved or conditionally approved 21 trust banks under the current administration, at least 13 of them crypto firms, among them Coinbase, Circle, Crypto.com and World Liberty Financial. ICBA says these institutions escape capital and liquidity standards, consolidated supervision and FDIC coverage that apply to insured banks, while competing with community banks.

Comptroller Jonathan Gould had said in September that the OCC is confident it has full legal authority for the charters. The Bank Policy Institute issued a statement backing the suit.

The read: the charter route that Stripe, Coinbase, Circle and Block are all using to get federal status now faces its first direct court test.

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