UPDATE: ICBA sues OCC in D.C. federal court over crypto trust charters
CIE News ·
The ICBA sued the OCC and Jonathan Gould in D.C. federal court, challenging national trust charters issued to crypto firms and seeking to vacate Protego's conditional charter.
The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) filed a lawsuit against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and Comptroller Jonathan Gould in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. As previously reported when community banks challenged crypto trust charters, the lawsuit targets the agency's national trust bank rule and Interpretive Letter 1176 under the National Bank Act. The ICBA claims the regulator exceeded its congressional mandate by granting limited-purpose trust charters to non-depository fintech and digital asset companies.
The ICBA stated that 13 of the 21 approved or conditionally approved national trust banks involve cryptocurrency firms, according to American Banker and CryptoSlate. Mentioned entities include Protego, BitGo, Paxos, and Ripple-linked companies. CryptoSlate also reported approvals involving firms such as Coinbase, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Foris DAX.
The plaintiffs are asking the federal court to vacate Protego's conditional charter and issue declaratory and injunctive relief to halt similar authorizations. The lawsuit is currently pending before the district court.