# US Community Banks Sue OCC Over Crypto Trust Bank Charters

By Riza Dagoc

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/regulation/32522
Published: 2026-10-15T13:17:29.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-15T13:17:29.000Z
Section: Regulation

> The complaint targets a March 2026 chartering rule, Interpretive Letter 1176 and a preliminary approval for a proposed Seattle trust bank.

An association representing community banks has sued the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), seeking to stop it from using national trust bank charters to authorize crypto firms to offer services under federal oversight.

ICBA’s Oct. 2 filing in the District of Columbia federal court names the OCC and Comptroller Jonathan Gould as defendants.

ICBA seeks orders nullifying the OCC’s March 2026 chartering rule and Interpretive Letter 1176, and preventing the agency from invoking either in decisions on new or conditional charters. The ICBA argues that the National Bank Act does not authorize the OCC to charter non-depository trust banks for broad non-fiduciary business.

The lawsuit also challenges a preliminary conditional approval issued Feb. 13 for Protego Holdings’ proposed National Digital Trust Company in Seattle. The approval does not let the bank begin business until it meets pre-opening requirements and receives final authorization.

The dispute centers on whether crypto firms can use limited-purpose federal trust charters for custody and other digital-asset services under OCC oversight.