Community bankers sue OCC over crypto trust bank charter approvals

The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) sued the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) over national trust bank charter approvals for cryptocurrency companies. ICBA filed the lawsuit on October 2, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia under the Administrative Procedure Act. The complaint seeks to overturn the challenged rule and vacate the conditional approval granted to at least one crypto firm, Protego Holdings Corp. The OCC has approved or conditionally approved 21 such charters, with at least 13 going to crypto companies.

The lawsuit challenges a March 2, 2026, final rule and related guidance. ICBA says the measures improperly expand the OCC's authority to charter national trust banks for non-fiduciary activities, including substantial crypto operations. ICBA says allowing these activities exceeds the authority Congress granted the OCC. The approvals are also alleged to be arbitrary and capricious because the OCC ignored commenters' warnings, including warnings from ICBA. Those warnings alleged that Protego and other crypto companies had severely flawed risk and control functions and governance structures lacking independent oversight. The companies were described as facing a serious risk of failure if the volatile cryptocurrency market crashes.

ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said Congress did not create the national trust charter to give crypto firms access to the banking system without traditional banking obligations. Rainey said crypto firms seek a federal bank charter's credibility without the Community Reinvestment Act obligations and consolidated supervision that apply to insured depository institutions. Rainey also cited the capital and liquidity standards and FDIC insurance that apply to insured depository institutions.

The lawsuit argues that the OCC's final rule and Interpretive Letter No. 1176 regulate trust banks far more lightly than traditional banks. The lawsuit argues that these measures allow entities conducting highly risky cryptocurrency and digital asset activities to use national trust charters instead of more rigorously regulated traditional bank charters. Before the recent approvals, the OCC had never chartered a national bank that neither took deposits nor engaged in fiduciary activities.