The traditional banking system just lost control of its most important moat: exclusivity. For decades, the OCC’s charter approval process was the ultimate gatekeeping mechanism, determining who could offer trust services and custody to America’s institutions.

But on December 12, 2025, the regulator changed the rules. It approved five national trust bank charters for digital asset entities, cracking open an $85T institutional custody market without traditional banks’ permission. [RELEASE]

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What happened

The U.S. banking regulator OCC (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency) has approved five crypto-focused firms to operate as national trust banks, pending final conditions. This move is the executive implementation of the GENIUS Act, passed in July 2025. The approvals include:

New charters:Ripple and Circle (operating as “First National”)BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos converted existing state charters into federal ones under 12 U.S.C. § 35.

These banks are “narrow banks”—they do not lend or gamble with customer funds. They must maintain full reserve backing, typically in U.S. Treasuries, and hold enough cash to cover months of operating expenses to ensure an orderly wind-down if needed.