The debate over the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granting specialty limited bank charters for financial technology companies is back, now with the addition of cryptocurrency and a new regulatory approach.

Some brief background: In 2016, the OCC released a white paper discussing a special purpose national bank charter specifically for fintech companies (fintech charter). The proposal attracted the interest of financial technology companies for a number of reasons, including: (1) as a national bank, the fintech charter would (arguably) preempt the variety of state licensing requirements and consumer laws that the companies viewed as barriers to nationwide operations; and (2) because the fintech charter did not permit the taking of deposits or require Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) deposit insurance, companies that owned or controlled the fintech bank would not be subject to the Bank Holding Company Act (BHCA). 

The NY Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) sued to prevent the OCC from proceeding with the fintech charter. Litigation dragged on for a number of years, during which time technology companies that had applied for the fintech charter either abandoned their efforts or elected to proceed with a full national bank charter. By early 2021, the fintech charter was considered dead.

With the fintech charter no longer an option, cryptocurrency and fintech companies began exploring other routes for obtaining a bank charter without taking on all the regulatory burdens of a full-service national bank. A limited purpose national trust bank charter became the frontrunning option. Similar to the fintech charter, these charters do not allow for deposit taking, arguably offering some of the same regulatory benefits of the fintech charter. However, the massive “crypto winter” downturn in the cryptocurrency and digital asset markets in 2022 and widespread consumer losses effectively halted any appetite the already-cautious OCC may have had for crypto-focused banks.

The new administration and an upturn in the cryptocurrency markets in 2025 have changed the regulatory environment. The OCC and other financial regulators began signaling an openness to discussing fintech and crypto banking through new supervisory guidance, interpretive letters and speeches. Congress passed the GENIUS Act, creating a regulatory and supervisory framework for the issuance of stablecoins by certain regulated entities. Unlike with the fintech charter, the OCC has not issued any white papers or proposed a framework for a new category of a tech-focused bank charter.

Seeing a renewed opportunity, a number of cryptocurrency companies began submitting applications for national trust bank charters. As of the beginning of December, the OCC lists six pending applications for limited purpose trust companies seeking to engage in cryptocurrency and digital asset activities. This is roughly the same number of trust company applications the OCC received over the entire previous four years. 

The Comptroller of the Currency has voiced his support for fintech and crypto companies obtaining a national bank trust charter, stating that bringing these companies within the regulatory perimeter is the only way for the OCC to ensure fair oversight and supervision. Industry groups have been vocally opposed to these trust bank applications on a number of grounds, including that allowing limited purpose trust companies to engage in cryptocurrency and digital asset activities creates an uneven playing field that disadvantages regulated banks and consumers by sidestepping deposit insurance, consolidated supervision of both the trust bank and its parent company, and robust consumer protection frameworks that apply to full‑service national banks. Some in the industry have also argued that the National Bank Act does not permit a trust company to engage in payments activity, which is a core banking function—an argument that is reminiscent of the industry's opposition to the OCC's fintech charter proposal.

It will be some time before we have a newly chartered fintech or crypto-focused trust bank. Traditional bank charters combined with technological innovations not envisioned when the statutes were written cause the wheels of bank regulation to turn slowly. The applications face a long review and approval process, as well as a protracted launch timeline if approved. The regulations implementing the GENIUS Act have yet to be proposed. Legal challenges from the banking industry similar to those we saw with the fintech charter proposal are highly likely. And we might be at the start of another crypto winter.