Crypto Group Defends OCC Charters Against Warren

A leading cryptocurrency industry group has publicly defended federal banking regulators against criticism from a senior U.S. senator, setting the stage for a significant debate over the integration of digital assets into the national financial system. The Digital Chamber sent a letter to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency this week, urging the agency to stand by its recent approvals of national trust bank charters for several major crypto firms.

The dispute stems from a letter Senator Elizabeth Warren sent to the OCC on May 18. In it, she argued the agency may have violated the National Bank Act by approving at least nine national trust charters for crypto companies since December 2025. Warren contends these firms, which include Ripple, Coinbase, Circle, Paxos, Fidelity Digital Assets, and BitGo, intend to engage in activities that appear to go far beyond the narrow set of functions permitted for trust banks. She described them as effectively operating as crypto banks while evading fundamental safeguards and obligations that apply to traditional, full-service national banks.

Warren has requested the OCC provide the complete charter applications, the legal reasoning...