Jonathan Gould, head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), says crypto companies seeking a U.S. federal bank charter should be held to the same standards as any other financial institution.
Speaking at a blockchain conference on Monday, Gould acknowledged that some digital-asset and fintech applicants may appear to be pursuing novel activities for a national trust bank, but emphasized that electronic custody and safekeeping are hardly new concepts.
“There is simply no justification for considering digital assets differently,” he said. “And we shouldn’t box banks— including national trust banks—into the technologies or business models of the past.”
The OCC, which supervises national banks, has historically viewed crypto firms as potential risks to the banking system. So far, just two crypto-focused institutions hold OCC licenses: Anchorage Digital, chartered in 2021, and Erebor, which received a preliminary charter in October.
Crypto “should have” a path to supervision
Gould argued that the U.S. banking system is fully capable of evolving “from the telegraph to the blockchain.”
He noted that the OCC has received 14 applications for new banks so far this year—including several from companies involved in digital-asset activities—nearly matching the total number of similar applications over the previous four years.
“Chartering helps the banking system keep pace with financial innovation and support a modern economy,” Gould said. “That’s why companies working with digital assets or other emerging technologies should have a clear path to become federally supervised banks.”
Gould dismisses banks’ objections
He acknowledged that banks and industry groups have pushed back on granting charters to crypto firms and questioned whether the OCC can effectively oversee them. But Gould warned that these objections could stall progress.
“Such concerns risk rolling back innovations that would benefit customers and local communities,” he said, noting that the OCC has already spent years supervising a crypto-native national trust bank.
Gould added that traditional banks regularly update the regulator about their own “exciting and innovative” product plans, reinforcing his confidence that the OCC can supervise both new entrants and evolving activities “fairly and even-handedly.”
