ICBA Sues OCC Over Bank Charters for Coinbase, Ripple and Other Crypto Firms

The Independent Community Bankers of America sued the OCC and Comptroller Jonathan Gould, seeking to overturn the rule used to grant national trust charters to crypto firms including Coinbase, Ripple, BitGo, Paxos and World Liberty Trust. The ICBA argues the charters give crypto companies federal bank credibility without deposit insurance, capital standards or community-lending duties.

• ICBA challenges Interpretive Letter 1176 and the OCC's March 2 final rule
• Complaint counts 21 trust banks approved under Trump, at least 13 crypto firms
• Approvals include Coinbase, Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, Paxos and World Liberty Trust
• Lawsuit seeks to vacate Protego Holdings' conditional charter granted in February