Lobby group challenges Sen. Warren over crypto bank charter approvals

The Digital Chamber (TDC) has pushed back against Senator Elizabeth Warren’s claims that national trust bank charter approvals for crypto firms violate the law. 

In a letter to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the crypto lobby group said, 

“These approvals represent a legally sound and long-overdue step toward integrating digital asset activities into the federal prudential framework, which is focused on safety and soundness.”

About 10 crypto firms, including Ripple, Circle, Coinbase, Anchorage Digital, Stripe, and others, got OCC approvals for the national trust charter in the past few months.

This would effectively allow them to custody crypto assets and conduct nation-wide operations without the need for individual state-by-state licenses. 

These are part of the preparations ahead of the implementation of the U.S stablecoin law, the GENIUS Act, which calls for strict capital, liquidity, and supervision requirements of stablecoin issuers. 

TDC to Warren – Crypto firms didn’t evade regulations

However, Sen. Warren slammed the OCC for granting the approvals to the crypto firms, claiming that it could pose “clear risks to consumers.”

Allowing national trust companies to act like full-service national banks, while evading the suite of restrictions, safeguards, and obligations that apply to full-service national banks, would pose clear risks to consumers.

For her, the firms are now “crypto banks” that want to “evade fundamental safeguards and obligations that come with being a bank.” As a result, Warren pressed the OCC to submit its review and approval process for these firms. 

However, the TDC disagreed with Warren’s scrutiny, adding that the crypto firms followed due diligence and legal procedures. Cody Carbone, CEO of The Digital Chamber (TDC), said, 

When a US Senator mischaracterizes their work and questions the legality of a rigorous federal process they voluntarily submitted to, we have an obligation to set the record straight. These companies didn’t evade regulation; they sought it.

Notably, banks had threatened to sue the OCC over these approvals, citing an “uneven playing field” since the crypto firms do not adhere to strict rules like them. However, President Donald Trump is pushing for more crypto firms’ access to the Federal Reserve payment rails.

Now, the banking lobby is calling for annual reports on the GENIUS Act, which includes stablecoin risks to help formulate policy amendments to address them.

Final Summary

• The Digital Chamber (TDC) has backed OCC and defended the national trust charter approvals for crypto firms as “legally sound.” 
• Sen. Warren criticized the move and called for an audit of OCC’s review and approval process for all licensed crypto firms.