The U.S. Workplace of the Comptroller of the Foreign money (OCC) has given nationwide banks the inexperienced gentle to carry crypto on their steadiness sheets for the aim of paying blockchain community charges.
The steerage, issued in interpretive letter No. 1186 in the present day, additionally permits banks to maintain crypto readily available to check inner or third-party crypto platforms.
Blockchain networks require native tokens to course of transactions. These charges, usually known as “gasoline charges,” are unavoidable.
The OCC mentioned banks can maintain the tokens they fairly anticipate needing. This might embody paying charges as a part of crypto custody companies or facilitating consumer transactions. The purpose is to scale back reliance on third-party suppliers and decrease operational dangers.
“Paying community charges is a needed a part of doing enterprise on blockchain networks,” the OCC mentioned. “Holding crypto for this function is permissible when it helps in any other case lawful banking actions.”
‘Incidental’ banking makes use of
The steerage emphasizes that these actions are “incidental to the enterprise of banking.” That phrase has weight in regulatory language. It means banks can do it legally, so long as the exercise helps them serve prospects or function effectively.
The OCC even drew parallels to historic banking practices, like holding overseas forex, banknotes, or shares in fee methods to facilitate transactions.
In different phrases, banks have all the time wanted to carry sure belongings to do enterprise. Crypto is simply the most recent type.
Banks are anticipated to handle dangers fastidiously. They have to observe operational, market, liquidity, cybersecurity, and authorized dangers. The quantity of crypto held ought to stay minimal relative to the financial institution’s capital.
The letter comes underneath the management of Comptroller Jonathan Gould, a Trump appointee confirmed in July 2025. Underneath his tenure, the OCC has grow to be extra crypto-friendly. Earlier steerage allowed banks to behave as nodes on blockchain networks, supply crypto custody companies, and work with stablecoins.
In the meantime, broader guidelines for stablecoin issuers underneath the GENIUS Act are nonetheless being drafted. However the OCC’s transfer indicators that U.S. regulators are prepared to let banks take part in crypto safely and effectively.
As extra banks discover digital belongings, this steerage might speed up adoption. It bridges conventional finance and blockchain, giving banks a clearer path to combine crypto into on a regular basis operations.
Earlier this yr, the OCC issued steerage (Interpretive Letter 1184) permitting nationwide banks and federal financial savings associations to supply cryptocurrency custody and buying and selling companies.
Basically, banks should purchase and promote digital belongings on behalf of shoppers, outsource crypto actions to 3rd events, and supply associated companies like recordkeeping, tax reporting, and compliance.
