OCC Allows Banks to More Easily Engage in Crypto Activities

The new administration is taking steps to legitimize cryptocurrencies and allow crypto to be incorporated into traditional financial systems. Recently the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued an interpretive letter that allows banks to engage in certain crypto-related actions without notifying the federal government and obtaining a non-objection letter as was previously required. Steptoe discusses the change to federal policy in a recent memo:

“On March 7, 2025, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) eliminated the requirement for OCC-supervised banks to obtain supervisory non-objection prior to engaging in certain digital asset activities. Under this new framework created by Interpretive Letter 1183, national banks and federal savings associations (collectively, “banks”) are no longer required to seek supervisory non-objection before providing crypto-asset custody services, holding dollar deposits serving as reserves backing stablecoins, acting as nodes on a distributed ledger to verify payments, or engaging in certain stablecoin activities to facilitate payment transactions.”

The new policy is expected to make it easier for banks to engage in crypto-related activities. Financial institutions looking to capitalize on new cryptocurrency offerings should be aware of the inherent risks. Before expanding into crypto financial institutions should ensure compliance with all relevant state and federal finance laws.